Building A Destiny
by secamimom
Summary: Bella owns and runs a nonprofit that helps battered women. Edward comes along and decides to help her dreams come true. AU Human, Canon relationships.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

**A/N: I want to thank Vere for her help with the title of this story. I came up with nothing, and she helped come up with a few choices. I know these first few chapters are going to be kinda short but I am trying to establish a history of the characters.**

BPOV

"I'll have a Grande white chocolate mocha, a grande skinny vanilla latte and a grande peppermint mocha twist.," I told the barista, "And let me get a dozen or so of those pastries too." She fixed my order and called my name to pick it up. I grabbed the items and made my way out into the cool Seattle air. I loved living here. It wasn't too busy, yet not completely boring. I had moved from Forks, Washington a few years back. I just needed a change, big time.

I own and run a local non-profit organization that helps battered women. It is my passion. My best friends also work with me. Alice Whitlock is what some may call a fashionista. She absolutely loves fashion and design. She is who we send the ladies to when they need to get a makeover, whether it be for a job interview they have or just to boost their self esteem. Rosalie Hale handles all the legal matters for us. Whether it be suing the hell out of a husband that just doesn't want to let his wife go or helping out a woman who is having her children taken away from her, we send them to Rose.

I don't really have a special skill for our set up. I am just the one who decided to get this place up and running. You see, I have personally dealt with battered and abused. My older sister, Tanya, was abused. Her husband had beaten her so bad that she went into a coma and died. I hadn't really been that close to Tanya since she was 8 years older than me, but seeing her die at the hands of that vile and cruel man named Laurent, who was supposed to love her and treat her with respect, just broke me.

So that is when I decided to open these offices up. Right now, that is all it is, offices. We are currently constructing a battered women's shelter right next door. That is what I have always dreamed we would have and now it is finally coming true. If only my sister had somewhere she could have escaped to, she might would still be alive today. She wouldn't come to my dad, Charlie, for help because he was a cop. She didn't want Laurent to get into trouble because, like the typical abused woman, she still loved him. It nearly killed my dad when he got the call about Tanya being in the hospital. He had no clue that it was going on. I did. Tanya had confided in me and I kept it a secret. That is another reason I opened this place. I am what you may call a confidant to these women. They come in, tell me their story in confidence and I help them with whatever they need.

I had now walked the few blocks from the coffee shop to our offices and was nearing the construction site. I liked to check on the progress myself every morning. _Here we go again _I thought to myself as the whistles and catcalls began. I had gotten used to this. It had started as soon as I started coming in and checking on the place. I was used to it though. The guys were just joking around. Like anyone could ever find me, plain old Bella Swan, "hot" and "sexy" like some of the guys liked to yell out to me.

"Alright, alright guys", I said smiling, "that is quite enough." I sat the pastries down on the fold out table up front and went to walk around the empty space. It was coming along nicely I have to say. With that, I waved to the guys whose mouths were now stuffed with pastries and made my way to our offices next door.

I walked into the huge lobby of our place and greeted our receptionist Angela. She was a former client here. She had been abused by her fiance and came here for our help 6 months ago. Angela had come a long way and we offered her this position with us, after Rose and Alice, along with myself, had grown very close to her. I stepped into the elevator and made my way to the 2nd floor. This building only had two stories, and my office, along with Rose and Alice's, were on the 2nd floor. I stepped out of the elevator and made my way to Alice's office.

"Good Morning Bella," Alice said as I handed her the coffee. I knew Alice needed some sort of caffeine to get going in the morning so that was my usual first stop. "I need to get to work Alice," I said walking towards the door, "call me if you need anything." She smiled and sipped her coffee.

I walked out and stepped across the hall to Rose's office. She was on the phone so I placed her coffee on her desk. She smiled and gave me a thumbs up. I snickered and walked out, making my way to my office.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

**A/N: Part of this story goes out to a certain person that decided to give me some hints on what Constructionward would wear. You know who you are. **wink** Once again, another short chapter. Sorry.**

_**EPOV**_

I love this part of my job. Actually getting hands on and doing stuff. Not sitting in some stuffy office in a suit and tie. I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. Wiping the mist off of the mirror, I tried to fix my hair. Nothing much I could do with it. Besides, it will be hidden by a hard hat today anyway. I walked to my closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I dried myself off and pulled my clothes on. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I put on my work boots and laced them up. I would much rather dress like this every day, but I know that is not gonna happen. I got up and walked into the kitchen and poured myself a cup of coffee. I glanced at my watch and realized that if I was going to do the hands on work today, I would have to leave now. No time for coffee and a newspaper. I grabbed my flannel shirt and hard hat and made my way outside my apartment.

I could walk to the site from my apartment building. I loved breathing in the Seattle air. It wasn't as filled with pollution from too many cars sitting idle at stop lights like in Chicago. I had moved from there a couple of months ago. I worked for the branch of Cullen Construction in Chicago, but I wanted to move back to Washington to be closer to my family. You see, my father, brother and I are all co-owners of Cullen Construction. My brother and father had stuck around and worked for the Washington branch, while I decided to branch out and help the Chicago branch grow. After working there for 6 years, I decided it could be handed off to capable hands and packed up and came back home. That's right. After 6 years away, I still considered Seattle to be a home more than Chicago ever had been. My mom was so excited to have me home. I know my dad and brother were too, but they just didn't show it as much.

I had made my way the few blocks to the site and was greeted by the other workers. They had no idea who I was and I liked it that way. If I was going to fit in, it would have to be like that. I grabbed one of the pastries that had been left on the table and placed my hardhat on my head ready for a day of hard work.

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At lunch time, I just decided to sit out front of the site and eat a sandwich. As I sat there, I thought about my reasons for leaving Chicago. Yes, I wanted to be closer to my family, but that was not the only reason. I had been broken. I was in a relationship with a girl named Jessica. I thought everything was going fine. Evidently she thought differently.

I was broken out of my train of thought by the clicking of heels on the sidewalk. I looked to my right, towards the sound and was left speechless. Walking down the sidewalk was the most beautiful women I believe I had ever seen. She had long, flowing chestnut colored hair that blew in the wind. She was wearing black pencil skirt that went to mid calf, and a white button up shirt that hugged her in all the right places. My eyes followed her legs down to her feet. She was wearing black heels. I stood to my feet as she got closer. She wasn't looking where she was going, and before she knew it, the toe of her shoe had gotten caught on a piece of uneven pavement and she fell forward. I instinctively stuck my arms out and caught her before she hit the pavement. That would have hurt like hell. I helped her to regain her balance and she looked at me. She had the most beautiful brown eyes. She looked directly into my eyes and I could have sworn she blushed.

"Are you ok?" I asked her as she straightened out her clothing. I had let go of her arms once she regained her balance. "Yes," she said, "thank you so much for catching me. I seem to do a lot of stumbling but most of the time, I end up falling. I was a little surprised when I didn't feel the impact of the cement to my face." She laughed a little. God she had the most adorable laugh.

"Well I certainly wasn't going to just let you fall right in front of me," I said, chuckling a bit. She smiled and said "Well thank you again. I really have to go so I can get back in time for a meeting I have after lunch," she said while walking away. "No problem," I shouted to her as she made her way down the sidewalk.

I looked down at my watch and realized lunch was over. I threw my trash into the garbage bin and walked back towards the site to get back to work. I probably wouldn't get much work done though now because all I could think about was the beautiful brunette and how I could find out who she was.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**BPOV**

I made it back to my office after lunch with only a few minutes to spare. I had spent most of my lunch hour thinking about the man who had saved me from coming face to face with the cement sidewalk. Who was he? How come I have never seen him at the site before? And most importantly, why was he so damned gorgeous? I mean, come on. He was tall and masculine. Not too masculine to the point that he looked like one of those body builders, but not some damn bean pole either. He had a head full of messy copper colored hair. It stuck out in all directions. Sex hair at its best. I would love to see what that head of hair looked like after a….stop Bella. You cannot do this. He is probably just one of those guys that whistles every morning to be nice. It is not like anyone would ever find you sexy or irresistible. I mean, he said himself the only reason that he touched me was to keep me from falling on my face. I have got to get him off of my mind. I look at my watch and realize that I have now wasted another 15 minutes fantasizing about, hell I don't even know his name. He could be Bob the Builder for all I know. Although he did look sexy in those jeans and that flannel shirt. The way the sleeves were ripped and showed his muscular arms, and……ok, stop Bella. You have work to do.

I get myself ready for my meeting. It is with a young girl named Vanessa. Apparently, her asshole of a boyfriend decided to beat the shit out of her. She says that for months he has been practically holding her hostage. Only letting her out of the apartment when he is with her. She had to drop out of college when he would no longer let her go to class and she had to quit her part time job. This story sounded so much like Tanya's. Laurent had made Tanya quit the classes she was taking so that she could be at home to prepare his meals and clean his house. She had a part time job at the local diner but he made her quit that too. That is why I took Vanessa's case because it was so much like my older sisters. And since I couldn't help Tanya, maybe I can help Vanessa.

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I ended up working late today and was now on my way home, well past 6 o'clock pm. Rose and Alice had already left. I made my way down the empty streets. I didn't mind walking home alone at night like most people. I am pretty sure I can handle myself. Now if you would have asked me to do this a year ago, it would have definitely been no. But I took some Tae-Kwan-Do classes at the local gym and I am pretty sure that I could kick some guys ass if he tried to touch me. That was another thing that we recommended to the girls that came to us. Some type of self defense classes.

I walked into my apartment and placed my things on the table. I checked my answering machine for message, and of course there were none. Who were you expecting to call Bella? It's not like you have any friends outside of Rose and Alice. You don't let anyone get close enough to you to be your friend. I want to make new friends though. And immediately my mind wandered to the copper headed construction guy.

**EPOV**

I was right. Most of the rest of the day was spent wondering about the woman I had met on my lunch break. Who was she? Where did she come from? Why was she so damned beautiful? I was now lying on my bed relaxing. I had taken a shower immediately upon getting home and ordered some takeout afterwards. I just didn't feel up to cooking tonight. Working hands on was a lot harder than desk work but definitely more rewarding in my opinion. I closed my eyes and listened to the music I had playing and let my thoughts once again wonder to the beautiful brunette who had caught my eye today.

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I was now heading out to the site again. I would be working there most of this week rather than at the office. I walked into the front area and noticed again that there were some pastries lying on the table. I grabbed one that was left and made my way to work again. I really enjoyed the guys I worked with. Most of them were really hard workers and never missed any days, from what I could tell. There were a few that seemed to have tempers on them but overall they seemed like a pretty good bunch of guys.

Before I knew it lunch time rolled around again. I grabbed my sandwich and made my way out front to sit on the sidewalk again. I sat down and began to unwrap my sandwich. "Excuse me," someone said, and I looked up. It was her. "I was just wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me today?" she asked, "I usually go to this little diner about a block away and I noticed that you were eating alone again I know that I don't like to eat alone and….." I cut her off from her apparent rambling and said "Sure. But what made you ask me?"

"I just thought that maybe you would like to have someone to talk to during your lunch break?" she said, "you know, as friends." Friends right, she just wants to be friends. I can do friends. Besides, I don't really want to get in another relationship right now so this could be good. I haven't made any new friends since being back in town so this would be ok.

"Bella," she said while holding out her hand for me to shake. I stood up and took her hand in mine and shook it. "Edward," I said smiling at her. "Well come on Edward," she said walking down the street pulling me behind her, "we don't want to spend our whole lunch hour out here now do we?" I chuckled and followed her to the little diner.

**A/N: So I have had a few people say we should call the Edward in this story Erectward (get it? cause architects erect buildings. haha) So what do you guys think? **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

BPOV

Edward and I walked into the diner and grabbed a booth towards the back. This place seemed to be pretty busy during the daily lunch hour. And with good reason. I stopped in one day for a quick bite to eat and have been back pretty much every day since. And most of the customers in here are here every day as well.

"So, what is good here?" Edward asked me as he looked over the menu.

"You have never eaten here?" I asked him, truly surprised, " I thought that everyone from this area had eaten here."

"Well, I haven't been around for a while," he said, " I moved away a few years back and just recently returned." I didn't want to push him to tell me anymore than he wanted to so I just nodded to him to let him know that I was listening. The waitress came and we both ordered a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate milkshake.

"So Bella," Edward said, "tell me about yourself." I looked at him nervously. He must have been able to tell because he immediately replied "If you want to, of course."

"No, it's OK." I said, assuring him, "I am just not a big fan of talking about myself. I grew up in a small town called Forks. I moved here to Seattle a few years back and began working for the Battered and Abused Women's Center. I work way too much and don't really have a social life." I laughed a little and he did as well. That was enough information right? I mean, I didn't want to go ahead a divulge my whole life history to him and scare him off, but he seemed like a good person and I wanted to have him as a friend.

"Well Ms. Bella," he said, " it seems that we are going to have to rectify that. If you are going to be a friend of mine, you can't be all cooped up in the office, now can you?" Friends, he actually wants to be friends with me too. I am so glad. I was afraid this was going to be all awkward and full of sexual tension but as long as we are both on the same page, friends we will be.

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EPOV

"I would love to go out with you sometime," Bella said. I looked at her a little shocked with my eyes wide open. She must have registered what I was thinking and she quickly replied, "As friends I mean, You know, go out and do something fun, as friends." I smiled at her. Good. She just wants to be friends as well. I am so glad that this isn't going to be all awkward. Most girls don't want to be just friends with me. Thankfully, Bella wasn't like most girls.

The waitress brought us our food and Bella was right. It was delicious. "So Edward," she said, "tell me a little about yourself."

"I grew up here in Seattle but moved to Chicago a few years ago," I spoke while she nibbled on her fries and listened intently. " I worked there for a few years and decided that I wanted to be back home and around family." That wasn't technically a lie. It just wasn't the whole truth. That would be ok though. I don't want to scare her off with my whole sorted past.

We finished up our lunch and we each paid our part. That is what friends do, right? We casually walked back towards the site. Upon arriving, Bella turned to me and smiled saying, "I really had a good time at lunch Edward."

I smiled at her as well. "Maybe we can do it again tomorrow." I said, " I mean, we both seem to have lunch at the same time, so why not just eat together. Two friends sharing in conversation while sharing a meal."

"I would like that very much Edward," Bella said, "until tomorrow." And with that she walked back towards her office building.

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BPOV

I had a really great time with Edward at lunch today. He seemed like a really great guy and I enjoyed talking with him. See Bella making friends with guys isn't that hard. Totally easy. I sat down at my desk and began to look over my calendar. Crap. I have got to meet with the architect and make some final decisions before the building of the shelter is completely green-lighted. I picked up and dialed the phone rather than walk over to the site.

"Emmett," I said, " how are you today?" Emmett was the site manager of the project. He was also dating Rosalie.

"I am fine Bella. What can I do for you today?" he asked.

" I need you to send over the architect for the shelter design to my office tomorrow morning so I can make the final decisions on the design."

"No problem Bells. I will send him right over in the morning."

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EPOV

I got back to the site and immediately got back to work. I hadn't got much done when I heard the loud voice I had been trying to avoid all day.

"Edward!," he called out. "My office, Now!" I rolled my eyes and made my way to his office.

"Yes Emmett," I asked. I stood there, not amused by his act.

"Is that anyway to talk to your boss?" Emmett said. I just laughed. "Just kidding Edward. So, how is my little brother doing today?"

"Good Emmett. What can I do for you?"

"The owner of the shelter wants to meet with you tomorrow so she can make her final decision on the design so the project can officially be green lighted."

Crap. This means I can't have lunch with Bella. I can't show up meeting the owner in jeans and boots and I certainly can't show up at lunch with Bella in a suit and tie.

"Ok then. I guess I will meet with the owner tomorrow morning."


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

**A/N: I am so sorry that these chapters are really short. I am trying. This is only my 2****nd****full story on here, so don't flame me. LOL. I just don't see how people write those really long stories. I wish I could. Anyways, here is today's update.**

BPOV

My alarm clock started ringing and I cut it off and instantly hopped up. Usually I am not much of a morning person but this morning is different. I am excited to meet with the architect and finalize the plans for the shelter. I finally feel like I can make a real difference in this world.

I hop into the shower and all I can think of is Edward. People are not supposed to think of their friends in the shower. And that is all I want Edward to be. A friend. I really enjoyed my lunch with him yesterday and was looking forward to having lunch with him again today. I stepped out of the shower and walked into my closet. I chose a full out business suit today. It was dark blue in color and the skirt fell about mid thigh. Not too short, yet not too long. I decided to leave my hair down and natural. No time to straighten it today. I pulled my peep toe black heels on and grabbed my briefcase and headed out the door.

Of course I had to stop at the coffee shop and pick up mine and the girls coffees and some pastries for the guys. I dropped those off and headed up to my office. I let Angela know that when the architect showed up to go ahead and send him up to my office.

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EPOV

I woke up this morning and practically threw my alarm clock at the wall. I was dreading today. I would have to get in a suit and tie and I just didn't want to. The past couple of days had been great. I stood up and got in the shower. All I could think of was Bella. Wait, you aren't supposed to think of your friends in the shower right? And that is all she was. A really good friend. I enjoyed having lunch with her yesterday and I am supposed to be enjoying lunch with her today. But I have got to meet with the owner and finalize plans for the shelter. Hopefully I could find a way to let her know I couldn't make it and she wouldn't think that I had just stood her up.

I got out of the shower and walked into my closet. I chose my favorite grey suit and a white button up. I paired it with a skinny black tie (**A/N: Think: GQ photoshoot. LOL)** I grabbed my briefcase and the plans for the shelter and walked out the door.

I made my way to the site and let Emmett know I was going to go ahead and head over to meet with the owner. I stopped at the receptionist desk and let her know who I was.

"Oh, you must be the architect," the young lady said, "Ms. Swan said to go ahead and send you up to her office. It is on the second floor, last door on the right." I nodded my head to her and smiled and made my way up to the second floor. When I reached the door it was open. Someone stood facing the window looking out. She was talking on the phone quietly to someone. She had a dark blue suit on that went beautifully with the pale color of her legs. She had dark chocolate colored hair that went down her back in waves. I raised my hand and gently knocked on the open door. She told whoever it was on the phone to hold on a minute and turned around. I was floored.

"Bella?"

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BPOV

"Edward?" I asked, "what are you doing here? And why are you so dressed up?" I thought he was cute before in the jeans, flannel shirt and hardhat but damn this man could rock a suit. Crap. Friends. Friends. Friends. I began to chant in my head.

"I am supposed to be meeting with the owner of the center today to discuss and finalize the design for the shelter that is being built next door," he said. Wait, what? I am supposed to be meeting with the architect. It suddenly hit me. Edward is the architect. Edward designed the shelter..

"I am the owner," I told him. He looked a little shocked. I smiled and offered him a seat at the desk so that he could spread out the designs.

"I can't say that I am not shocked by this Bella," he said, smiling, " I knew you worked here but I had no idea that you were the owner. Hell, I don't even know your last name. Well, I kinda do now because your receptionist told me to come up here and meet with Ms. Swan."

"Bella Swan," I said holding out my hand for him to shake. " And I don't even know your last name either Edward."

" Edward Cullen, " he said smiling. Wait, the Edward Cullen. Part owner of Cullen Construction who were currently building the shelter next door. Emmett Cullen's long lost brother he had been going on and on about for weeks to Rosalie. Friends. Friends. Friends. I had to continue to chant this in my head.

We went over the plans and made any final adjustments. He packed up all of his things and seemed hesitant to go. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Nothing much. I was just regretting having to cancel lunch with you today but now it seems like I don't have to," he said smiling.

"No, I guess you don't," I said, "I think it is time for Edward Cullen and Bella Swan to get to know a little more about each other."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

BPOV

Edward and I walked into the diner and sat in the same booth as before. We each ordered a cheeseburger, fries and a shake again. An uncomfortable silence had settled on us and I didn't like it. Friends are supposed to talk. So I began.

"Tell me Edward Cullen, why didn't you tell me that you were a very successful architect?" He looked at me and seemed remorseful. "I'm sorry, Bella," he said, " I just didn't think about it." I immediately interrupted him and said, "It's ok Edward. I understand. Now, why don't you tell me about yourself. What we didn't discuss the other day."

"Ok," he began, " I am an architect for Cullen Construction. Well actually, I am part owner. My father Carlisle is also an architect. He and my brother Emmett, who I think you already know, are co-owners of the company with me. My father is actually the founder of the company. My mother is Esme. She is an interior designer. As a matter of fact, I think she has some ideas for the interior of the shelter, if you don't mind, of course."

"That would be great," I said, smiling. It is true. I hadn't even began to research anything about the interior of the shelter yet. I could use all the help I could get. "Now, why don't you tell me why you really left Chicago." I knew when he was telling me his story the other day that there was more to it. Now that we are getting to know the real us a little better, I was hoping that since he saw me as a friend, that he would open up more.

"What makes you think that I didn't just move here to be closer to my family?" he asked skeptically.

"Come on Edward," I said, " I am around women all day that feel like they need to lie. I have learned to read body language very well. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I hope that as your friend, that you will one day trust me enough to tell me." I smiled and patted his hand that lay rested on top of the table.

"You are too good Bella," he said smiling. " There was another reason. I had just went through a bad breakup with a girl and I just had to get away from there. Everything around that city just reminded me of her so much and I just had to leave."

"I understand Edward, " I told him. And believe me, I completely understood. I had to leave Forks just to get away. So many things in that little town held very bad memories for me.

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EPOV

I can't believe that she knew I wasn't telling the full truth about myself. But then again, I could say the same thing about her. I could tell that when she was talking about herself the other day at lunch that she wasn't sharing something, and I hoped that as friends, she would open up to me.

"So tell me Bella Swan," I said, " what weren't you telling me about yourself the other day. Just like you, I can read people very well. If you don't want to tell me why you didn't share who you were, I understand but I want to be your friend too and hope that you can open up to me."

"Thank you Edward," she said, smiling, " I didn't tell you who I was because I just didn't want you to think I was some snobby and snooty corporate person." I laughed at her reason. I could never think that about her. " The truth is, yes, I am the owner of the center. I opened it up a few years ago after what happened to my older sister, Tanya. She was abused and tormented by her husband. I knew about it and told no one." Her eyes began to fill with tears and I took her hand on top of the table as she had done mine earlier. " One day he beat her so bad, that she didn't wake up. He killed my sister and I had done nothing to prevent it. That is why I opened up the center and am having the shelter built. I did nothing to help Tanya, but I will not make that mistake again. I will help as many women and children as I can to make it up to her." I was amazed at her strength. To go through something like that and to turn it around and help people, is truly amazing. And I told her so.

"Bella," I said, "that is truly amazing. For you to do something like that for so many women and children is outstanding. I am sure your sister is very proud of you."

She smiled and said Thank you as she dried her tears. The rest of the lunch was spent in comfortable silence. I paid the bill and we walked back to her office building.

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BPOV

I was glad that I could finally open up to Edward. I felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. He shared his story and I had to share mine. Walking back to my office, I looked over at Edward and just admired him. He was very handsome. The sunlight hit his hair just right and you could see tints of red in it. He had put on a pair of Ray-Bans and they made him look very sexy. Wait, you don't call your friends sexy do you? Crap. I mean, he is a very handsome man, but I am just trying to be friends here. I do not need to be getting into a relationship right now. Friends. Friends. Friends, I began my now common chant in my head.

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EPOV

Walking back to the office, I really began to look at Bella. She was very attractive. Not in a super model type way, but a very girl-next-door type of way. Dark brown hair that fell in waves on her back, long sexy legs, plump pink lips that I could almost feel…….wait. You don't talk about your friends sexy legs or their plump lips. You just don't. I don't need to be getting into a relationship right now. Just friends. That is all Bella wanted to be. Friends. I could handle that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

BPOV

The past few weeks have been great. Edward and I have had lunch together every chance we have gotten. On most days he was working at the office and didn't get a chance to get away to go to the diner with me. But at least once a week he was at the construction site, and on those days he made sure that we had lunch together. We had yet to do anything else besides lunch and I wanted to change that. I just had no idea whether or not he would.

It is Saturday and I am waiting on Alice and her boyfriend Jasper to come by and spend some time here with me. We plan on relaxing and watching movies all day. Jasper also planned to pick up a few files from me. You see, Jasper is the psychiatrist that I send most of the women to see when they come to us at the center. As a matter of fact, he is the one that helped Alice. That is how they met and they have been together ever since her treatment ended. They are very good together. Alice is extremely hyper and outgoing and Jasper tends to calm her right down.

Hearing a knock, I get up off of the couch and go and open the door. "Hey Bella," Alice says. She and Jasper make their way into my apartment. He hands me some grocery bags and says, "We come bearing gifts." I smile and look into the bags. There is a variety of chips and dips and veggies and other snacks. That was our deal. I provide the movies and entertainment and they provide the snacks. We planned on going out to dinner later with Rosalie and Emmett so we just planned on snacking until then.

"This all looks great guys," I said putting everything out on the table. "Can I get you guys anything to drink?"

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We were now starting our second movie when my cell phone rang. I looked at the screen and noticed it was Edward. I immediately smiled. "Hey there you," I said.

"Hey yourself," he replied, "what are you up to today?"

"Nothing much. Just hanging out and watching some movies. What are you up to?"

"Actually, I have some plans Esme wanted me to show you for the interior design for the shelter. I can just bring them by the office…"

I interrupted him. "Why don't you just bring them by my place now?" He knew where I lived because he refused to let me walk home late one night after leaving the office. Besides, I really wanted to introduce him to my friends, and now would be the perfect time.

"Are you sure Bella? I mean, I can't wait until Monday, if you are busy."

"Edward, I am not too busy. Remember, just hanging out watching movies. So just bring them on over, OK?"

"Ok, I will be there in a few."

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EPOV

The past few weeks have been great. Bella and I have had lunch together every chance we get. We had yet to do anything outside of lunch and I was planning on changing that. I now had the perfect excuse to go by her place. My mom had given me some ideas for the interior of the shelter that she wanted to show Bella. I, of course, offered to show them to her. And she made my day by telling me to stop by her apartment and give them to her. Little did she know, I was already downstairs, outside her apartment building.

After getting off the phone with her, I waited about 5 minutes and headed upstairs. I knocked on her door and waited. The shock must have showed on my face immediately. A guy answered her door. Wait. He looked very familiar and evidently he must know me because he said "Edward Cullen?" I kind of shook my head to take away the shock and looked a little closer at the guy. And then it hit me. "Jasper Whitlock?"

He pulled me into a, what I like to call, man-hug and patted me on the back. I hadn't seen Jasper since before I left for Chicago. We used to hang out all the time, with Emmett of course.

"I had no idea you were back in town, Edward, " he said, as I stepped inside Bella's apartment. She looked a little confused.

"Jasper and I have known each other a while. We hung out together before I moved to Chicago. She nodded her head and smiled. Someone else walked in from the other room and went to Jasper's side. "Edward, I want you to meet my girlfriend Alice." She stuck her hand out for me to shake and I did. She seemed very good for Jasper, although a little hyper. She was practically bouncing on her feet.

"Oh Edward, I have heard so much about you from Emmett and Jasper," she said. I was confused. How did all these people know each other. Bella must have sensed my confusion because she started to speak.

"Alice and I work together at the center. Jasper is the psychiatrist that we send the girls to. Jasper's sister, Rosalie, is Emmett's girlfriend. Oh, Ok. Now it clicked.

"Edward, man, we were all going to go out together, Alice and I, Emmett and Rosalie and Bella, to eat dinner. We would love it if you would join us."

"No, no, I couldn't impose," I said, knowing full well that I was going to ask Bella to go out and do something with me tonight anyway.

"Come on Edward," Bella said, smiling, "you know you wouldn't be imposing. I want you to come."

Now, how could I say no to that.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

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BPOV

Before I knew it, Rose and Emmett had arrived and she and Alice were pushing the boys out the door. They claimed that we had to get "all dolled-up". I told Edward goodbye and that I would see him in a few hours. Rose and Alice immediately pulled me down on the couch. Oh great. They wanted to talk. Here we go.

"Spill it, Bella," Alice said. I knew it. She knew something was up. She never misses a thing. "I don't know what you mean, Alice," I said, knowing full well what she meant.

"Don't give us that crap Bella," Rose said, "I haven't even been here 5 minutes and I saw the way you looked at him. Now tell us what is going on."

"Look guys, there is nothing going on. Edward is just a friend."

"Well, how did you guys meet," Alice asked.

"I was walking down the street outside of the offices and I tripped. He caught me. We went out to lunch the next day. Then, I found out that he was the architect that designed the shelter. We have been going out to lunch and talking. That's it," I said. I am so hoping they don't press me anymore.

"Yeah, but Bella," Rose said, "that doesn't explain the way you were looking at him. I mean, come on, he is gorgeous. Friends don't look at friends the way you were looking at him."

"Exactly," Alice said," He was looking at you the same way."

What? Edward was looking at me like that too? Had I missed it? "What do you mean? How was he looking at me?" I asked.

Alice and Rose squealed excitedly. Oh crap. I had done it now. "I knew you were interested in him," Alice said. Who am I kidding. Over the past few weeks I had definitely begun to see Edward as something more than a friend. I mean, who wouldn't. That gorgeous bronze, messy hair. Those green eyes that just draw you in. That muscular body. I must have totally zoned out because they were shaking my arms and practically screaming my name.

"Look guys," I said, "yes, I am interested in Edward. But I am sure that he doesn't feel the same way about me. He just wants to be friends. How could he like someone like me. I am so plain. And boring. I wouldn't be interesting to anyone." And that is truly what I thought. I am plain old Bella Swan. Nothing fancy. No blonde hair and big boobs. No supermodel looks. I had plain brown hair and an average size chest. And I was definitely not Edward Cullen worthy.

"Bella you are absolutely ridiculous," Rose said, "you are absolutely beautiful. Any guy would be lucky to have you." They both hugged me and tears started to flow.

"Thanks guys," I said, " it's just that I am scared. I haven't been out with anyone since…"

Alice interrupted me. "We know that Bella. Do you really think that we would push you into this if we though that you weren't ready? Besides, Edward seemed like a really great guy. And you said yourself that you guys had been talking already at lunch. Maybe he does like you. You will never know unless you try."

"And if doesn't like you after the way you look tonight," Rose said, "then the guy definitely has problems. Alice and Rose then pulled me into the bathroom and began to "doll me up".

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EPOV

Rose and Emmett had arrived, and we, being Emmett, Jasper and I, had been pushed out of the apartment. The girls claimed they need to get "dolled-up". I don't think any of them really needed it. Certainly not Bella. She was beautiful as it was. Yes, that is right. I just called my friend beautiful. In the past few weeks, I had begun to think of Bella as more than a friend. At least, I wanted to be. But I was sure that she wanted no part in that.

We guys decided to head down to a local pub and play a few rounds of pool. The place wasn't too crowded for a weekend day so we immediately grabbed a pool table and set up. Emmett and Jasper were both whispering to each other and I pretty much knew something was up. And I had a feeling I knew what it was.

"So," Jasper said, "how did you and Bella meet?' I should have known conversation would be about Bella and I.

"Well, one day I was out front of the site eating lunch, and she tripped and I caught her. We went out to lunch together the next day. Then, Emmett told me I needed to meet with the owner of the center, thanks for that by they way," I said, jokingly punching Emmett in the arm," and found out it was Bella. Since then we have been going out to lunch and talking." There. Hopefully that was enough to keep them satisfied. Who was I kidding? Of course it wouldn't be.

"So, you wanna bang her?" Emmett said loudly. I looked at him, my eyes wide and furious.

"God Emmett, do you have to be so damn disrespectful," I practically screamed at him. I wanted to punch him, but I really didn't feel like ending up in jail when I was going to see Bella in a few hours. "I think she is very beautiful and I like her very much. The problem is, I think she just wants to be friends. I mean, that is why we started hanging out in the first place. We both needed friends. But after spending so much time with her lately, I have realized I want more. I just don't think she does."

"Have you said any of this to her," Jasper asked me.

"No, of course not. I just don't know if I am ready. After the whole thing that happened in Chicago. I just…."

Emmett interrupted me. "Man, you are never gonna know unless you tell her how you feel." Sometimes Emmett can be an ass, but sometimes he can really surprise you. He was right. I would never know unless I told her.

We finished up our game and headed back to Bella's apartment to pick up the girls. I came to the decision that I would tell Bella how I felt, tonight. And hopefully, she would feel the same way.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

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BPOV

The guys had called a few minutes ago to let us know they would be here soon. They were stopping by Edward's place because he wanted to change. So I was now sitting here on the couch, waiting, while Rose and Alice finished getting ready. I had begun to daydream.

_Edward walked through the door and stalked over to me, eyeing me like I was his prey. Once in front of me, he pulled me to stand. I was so close to him, I could clearly feel his erection pressed up against me. I closed my eyes and moaned at the feeling. His hands reached up and grasped my face and he passionately kissed me. I eagerly returned the kiss and brought my hands up to run through his hair. One of his hands went down and grabbed my thigh, and he hitched my leg around his hip. I broke away for air and he moved his kisses to along my jaw line. I moaned in response and he ground himself against me again. Oh, this was so much better than I imagined. Both of us breathing heavily, he moved his lips toward my ear and whispered, "I want you so bad, Bella."_

I was awoken from my daydream by Alice and Rose arguing over something. I shook my head trying to rid myself of the thoughts I had just had. Yeah, right. Like that would ever happen. I wanted it to though. And tonight, I am going to try and make it happen. Alice and Rose had convinced me that I needed to step up my game. I needed to flirt like I had never flirted before. And not just with Edward though. I needed to show him, they said, that if he didn't hop at the chance to have me, someone else would. I agreed and they had been coaching me on things to do. Hopefully this would work. They had dressed me in this ridiculously short dress and said that this was only the beginning. We were planning on going to a club after dinner and that is where the plan would begin. I can't deny that I am a little scared about what they are planning.

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EPOV

We called the girls and let them know that we would be by in a few minutes. Emmett and Jasper had convinced me to go by my apartment and change into something more appealing than what I was currently wearing. I had no arguments since they had decided to help me in my quest for more than friendship with Bella. And right now, they currently knew more about her than I did.

I was now sitting on my bed pulling on another pair of shoes when I began to day dream.

_I walked into Bella's apartment and spotted her immediately. She was sitting on the couch. I walked over to her and pulled her to stand. She was so close to me I know that she had to feel my erection. She closed her eyes and made this wonderfully sexy sound. I placed both of my hands on her face and eagerly kissed her. She returned the kiss with just as much passion as I had and ran her fingers through my hair. How did she know how much I loved that? I reached my hand down and ran it along her thigh. I grabbed it and hitched her leg up on my hip. She pulled away for air and I greedily began to place kisses along her jaw line. She continued moaning in response and I ground my erection into her again. We were both breathing heavily and she began kissing along my jaw line, making her way to my ear. She then whispered to me "I want you so bad, Edward."_

I was awoken from my daydream by Emmett pounding loudly on my door. "Come on Edward! We need to hurry up. We have reservations for the restaurant and we don't want to miss them." I pulled my shoes on and opened the door.

Emmett and Jasper coached me on ways to show Bella how much I wanted her, while we walked to Bella's apartment. They said I need to show Bella how great of a guy I could be. Well, Jasper said that. Emmett said I needed to show her how bad of a guy I could be and he wasn't talking about my personality at all. I swear, Emmett can be so perverted at times.

We had finally arrived at the apartment and I knocked on the door. Bella answered and my jaw must have hit the floor. Her hair fell down in waves around her face and she had this makeup on around her eyes that brought out the chocolate color of her eyes even more so than before. And her outfit, oh God, her outfit was sinful. The blue dress was so tight on her that it showed every curve of her body. The top was cut low and the bottom barely covered her ass. Oh God, she is gonna be the death of me tonight. And then my eyes traveled to her feet. She had on the sexiest pair of heels that made her legs look ten times longer than they had before. Yep, I am so dead.

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BPOV

There was a knock at the door and I stood up to answer it. Edward was standing there in all his glory. He wasn't speaking and I am almost sure I saw drool coming out of the corner of his mouth. Well, this is new. I took the time to look him over, as it seemed he was doing the same thing to me. He had on a royal blue t-shirt that, I swear, hugged every muscle in his chest. A pair of dark washed jeans that hung low on his hips. I have got to see what his ass looks like in those jeans. I am sure that it is a sight to see. My eyes moved up to his hair and it looked like someone had just ran their fingers through it in the heat of passion. If only my daydream would have been real. I smiled at him and he gave me that crooked smile that I had grown to love over the past few weeks. Yep, I am so dead.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

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_**BPOV**_

Dinner had gone very well. Conversation had mostly centered around memories of Emmett, Jasper and Edward growing up. I heard some pretty embarrassing stories about Edward and I decided to file them away for future blackmail use. The only thing is, once embarrassing stories started, Rose and Alice decided to grace them with some of my embarrassing tales as well. So Edward has his fair share of blackmail material too.

When the guys heard that we wanted to go out to a club after dinner, they all whole heartedly agreed. We decided to walk down the street to a club called Eclipse. Rose, Alice, Emmett and Jasper had been here before but Edward and I never had. It had recently opened and had a line around the block. Emmett was friends with one of the bouncers, so we were able to skip the whole line and we were immediately let in.

We grabbed a table towards the back of the bar and ordered a round of drinks. The guys got beers and us girls got Cosmos. Conversation once again centered around embarrassing Bella stories, but now, after a few round of drinks, I didn't seem to mind as much. As a matter of fact, I was laughing right along with everyone.

A song that evidently Alice recognized came on and she pulled Rose and me out to the dance floor. Alice, Rose and I all danced together, grinding against each other. I was really getting into it and I felt two hands on my hips. I started backing up towards the person behind me and rubbed my ass against the erection that was clearly there. "Hello" he spoke into my ear, and it was clearly not Edward. I turned around quickly and was met with a complete strangers face. "Thanks for the dance," I muttered to him and found my way back to the table. Alice and Rose were already back at the table and we all had empty shot glasses sitting in front of us. I noticed a bowl of limes and a salt shaker on the table as well. Emmett grabbed the bottle of Tequila the waiter just brought us and poured us each a shot.

"Wait, Wait, Wait!" Alice practically shouted out. I looked over at her and shot one eyebrow up at her skeptically. "Let's do body shots!" she cheered. I looked at her wild eyed and she whispered to me, "Don't worry. All part of the plan." I said I would trust her and Rose so I nodded to her and smiled.

Jasper did his body shot with Alice and she did one off of him as well. Rose and Emmett did the same. They all looked to Edward and I. I looked at Edward and said "I am going first". He looked at me a little shocked. He must have thought that I wouldn't go through with it.

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**EPOV**

I was shocked. When Alice mentioned that she wanted to do body shots I figured that it would be just them doing it. So when Bella looked at me and said she was going first, my jaw practically hit the floor. She sat me down on the stool that Rose and Alice had used before and pulled the t-shirt I was wearing away from my collarbone. She drug her tongue slowly across my collarbone and I had to hold in the whimper that almost escaped. She placed a slice of lime in between my teeth and grinned at me. She then sprinkled some salt on the area she had previously licked and sat the shaker down. She handed me her shot glass and said "Hold this for me" and I will be damned if she didn't wink at me. Bella bent her head down towards my neck and I caught the faintest smell of strawberries. She drug her tongue across my collarbone excruciatingly slow and lapped up the salt there. I smirked and handed her the shot glass. She downed it easily and made a squinting face as it went down. She then placed both hands on the sides of my face and pulled me toward her. She grasped the lime out from between my teeth and sucked the juice out of. I was instantly hard. God, she was so damned sexy. And was teasing me so bad. But now, it is my turn to tease.

I stood up and pulled her toward the stool. She sat down and smiled at me. When I looked at her, she must have sensed something and it looked like she got a little scared. Yes, she should be scared. I have never been as thankful for the lowcut top as I had been right now at this moment. I bent down and drug my tongue across the skin in between Bella's breast. She wasn't able to contain her moan and I quietly chuckled. I placed the lime between her teeth and winked at her as she had done me before. I sprinkled some salt on the skin I had just licked and handed her the shot glass. I bent my head down again and licked the salt up. She once again moaned and my dick got even harder than before, if that was even possible. I took the shot glass from her and downed it. I placed my hands on both sides of her face and pulled her towards me. She closed her eyes as I took the lime from between her teeth and sucked the juice out of it.

She opened her eyes again and we just stared at each other. We were brought back to reality by the claps and cheers coming from our friends. I smirked at her and she smiled at me, sexily. I bent down and whispered into her ear "So, you wanna dance? She nodded her head and took my hand as I led her to the dance floor. At first we were dancing face to face. I had my hands on her hips and she would go down, almost to the floor and then stand back up again. She was so sexy and I just had to tell her tonight. Then Bella decided to turn around and had her back to my chest. She was doing the same move as before, but now she was rubbing her ass against my obvious erection. I gently pulled her to me so she could feel what she was doing to me. She quietly moaned and it took all I had for me not to spin her around and make my daydreams from earlier come true.

When the song ended she spun around to face me. We both spoke at the same time, "We need to talk."


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

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BPOV

Edward and I walked back to the table to tell our friends that we were going to head out. My stomach was in knots thinking of the talk we would have once we were back at my place. Would he want the same thing as me? Did he just want to tell me that what we were doing earlier was wrong?

"Guys," I said, as I approached the table, "Edward and I are going to head on out." Rose and Alice just looked at me and smiled, knowingly. I had no doubt that they had watched our little performance on the dance floor earlier. I had my back turned toward the guys but I turned just in time to see Emmett get and elbow to the gut from Edward. Hmmm…wonder what that was about? We said our good-byes to everyone and Edward grabbed my hand as we walked outside. He hailed a cab and we rode in silence towards my apartment. I knew I was nervous and by the way Edward kept bouncing his knee up and down, evidently he was as well.

We pulled up to the apartment and Edward paid the driver. Once again, we were both silent as we rode up the elevator to my floor. While unlocking my apartment, Edward had placed his hand on the small of my back. I wanted to turn around and make the daydreams I had been having earlier in the day come true. I placed my keys on the side table and stepped into the kitchen. I turned around to see Edward right behind me.

"You can go on ahead and have a seat in the living room," I told him, smiling, "would you like anything to drink?"

"No thank you," he said, "I'm fine." I really didn't want anything either. I was just buying myself some time to get my thoughts in order. We both walked into the living room and sat down on the couch side by side. I angled myself so that I was facing him. I didn't know if he wanted to go first, but I planned on going first myself. If I didn't do it quick, I would likely back out.

"Bella, why don't you begin," he told me. I smiled at him and placed my hand on his knee. He placed his hand over mine.

"Edward, the past few months have been great," I started," I have loved getting to know you as a friend." I looked at him in the eyes and could have sworn I saw sadness. " But as I got to know you better, I realized that I wanted more. I don't want to be just your friend Edward. I would like something more. I want….." I was cut off from my next sentence by Edward's mouth on mine.

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EPOV

I don't know what the hell I was thinking, but when Bella told me that she wanted to be more than friends, I just launched myself at her and kissed her ferociously. She kissed me with just as much eagerness. I ran my tongue along her bottom lip and she granted me access. Our tongues caressed each other as we got lost in each other. Bella moved her hands up to my hair. She gently tugged on it and I let out a moan. I moved my kisses to her jaw line and gently nibbled her earlobe. She must have liked that because she let out a moan as well. We were kissing and caressing and before I knew it, Bella had threw one leg over my other leg and she was now straddling my lap. I placed my hands on her thighs and rubbed them backwards until I reached her ass. I firmly grabbed it, earning myself another moan. She began grinding her center into my erection trying to gain some time of friction. I pulled my hands from her ass and ran them up her naked thighs, this time, under her clothing. When I reached her panties, she gently pulled away, breathing heavily. She placed her forehead on mine and closed her eyes. When I looked into her eyes, I think I saw a little bit of panic. Shit, shit, shit. How could I have been so stupid. I just practically attacked her before she was even finished talking.

"Bella," I said, "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to attack you that way. It's just that when you said that you wanted to be more than friends, I was so happy and I wasn't thinking." She smiled and moved to get off of me. Once she was settled down on the couch beside me, she pulled my hands into hers and held them in her lap and began to speak. "Don't say you are sorry. Because I sure as Hell am not sorry about what just happened. " And then she winked at me, again. "As much as I loved what just took place here, I think that we should just take it slow you know. I mean, we have never even been out on a date. Yes, we have had lunch together for the past few weeks, but we have never went out at night, you know to the movies or a nice restaurant. " I smiled and kissed her hand.

"Bella, I completely understand the fact that you want to take it slow. I would like that as well. And, how does this Saturday sound for our first official date?"

She smiled at me and said "Saturday sounds wonderful. But that doesn't mean that we still can't have lunch together does it?"

I smirked at her and said "Of course not Bella. What would I do without our daily lunch at the diner?"

**A/N: Any ideas of what they should do on their date? Leave me a review and let me know.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stepehenie Meyer.**

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BPOV

The week passed by in a flash. Edward and I had lunch together on Wednesday. We held hands while walking to the diner. It was sweet. We kissed a few times, but nothing major. We were taking it slow, which I have discovered with Edward, that is very hard to do. I mean, he is so sexy and I don't even think he knows it. Or if he does, he sure doesn't act cocky about it. Even sitting in the restaurant, the waitresses were staring at him as if I wasn't even with him. And that ticked me off, just a little bit.

So, it was now Saturday afternoon and I was in a panic. I had pulled everything out of my closet trying to find something to wear. I was unsuccessful. I had went through multiple dresses, blouses and pairs of jeans and couldn't find anything suitable to wear. In a weak moment, I called Alice and she should be here in 15 minutes. There was a knock at the door. That was quick, even for Alice. I opened the door and yep, it was Alice. She stood there holding some large suitcase type thing and multiple shopping bags.

"Alice, how did you get here so fast?" I asked her. She just smiled and made her way into my living room and put down her things. She opened the suitcase type contraption and it was filled with, I believe, every shade of every type of makeup ever made. I was getting a little frightened.

"Bella, when you called," she said, "I was already on my way over here. You have been talking about your date all week and I knew how stressed out you were. I just figured you might want a little help and I am here for you. I even went shopping yesterday and picked you out the most wonderful dress to wear. That is, if you haven't already picked something out to wear yourself." God bless Alice and her conniving ways.

"No Alice. I have pulled everything out of my closet and drawers and have come up empty handed in the outfit department. She smiled and pulled a beautiful dress out of one of the shopping bags. It was a wrap around type dress in a lovely shade of blue. It would probably fall right above my knee. It was perfect.

"Oh Alice," I told her," it is perfect. But Crap. I have no shoes to wear with this dress?" She began digging through another bag and pulled out a pair of white peep toe heels. I already have these in black and the white would look perfect with this shade of blue. She handed them to me and I immediately place them and the dress down and pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you so much Alice," I said, "I don't know how I would have pulled this off without you." She let go of me and grabbed the suitcase thingy again and started walking toward my bedroom.

"Grab the dress and shoes and follow me. It is time for your fairy godmother to get you ready to see your prince."

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EPOV

Bella and I had lunch together on Wednesday and it was wonderful. I had stolen a few kisses but didn't venture much further than that. We both wanted to take this slow. And that was turning out to be a very hard thing. She was so beautiful. The problem is, I don't think that Bella thinks she is. If so, she sure doesn't show it like some girls do. Case in point, I nearly had to break 3 different guys' necks while we were walking to the diner for lunch. They kept ogling her and she had no clue. I needed to show her how beautiful she is and plan to start today.

After racking my brain all morning trying to figure out where exactly to take Bella on our first official date, I called my mother Esme in a panic. She laughed at me for a few minutes then asked me what I knew about Bella. I told her everything I could and she helped me come up with the perfect plan.

I went to my room and decided it was time to get dressed. I pulled on a pair of khaki colored cargo pants and a hunter green colored button up. I rolled the sleeves up to my elbows and finished off my ensemble with my favorite pair of black chucks. I wanted to be comfortable after being in a suit and tie practically all week. I grabbed the flowers I had went and bought earlier, at Esme's suggestion and made my way out the door and to my car. Where we were going, I was going to need my car.

I pulled up to her building and parked. As I shut the door, I checked my reflection out in the car window and tried to fix my hair. It is as good as it is going to get, I guess. I made my way into the building and up the elevator. I tried to straighten my hair again, with no success, and knocked on the door. It was only a few moments before the door was opened. It was Alice. She was smiling and carrying some sort of suit case type thing and lots of bags.

"Do you need any help with that?" I asked her. She smiled and shook her head. "No Edward," she replied walking out the door," it's ok. I've got it. Bella should be out in a few minutes. She was just finishing up. You two have a good time tonight." And with that she was gone.

I shut the door behind her and made my way into Bella's living room still holding the flowers. I was lost in thought, when I heard a door shut. I looked up and saw Bella standing there in the room. She was gorgeous. Her hair was wavy and she had the two sides pulled up. She had a dress on that was the most beautiful shade of blue against her ivory skin. My eyes followed down the rest of her body and saw that on her feet were the most sexy pair of heels. They made her legs look long and slender and I could imagine them wrapped around me as I…… someone coughed. Oh crap. Bella had brought me out of my very naughty daydream by coughing. I looked up at her and she was smiling sexily at me. I stepped toward her and handed her the flowers I had been holding.

"These are for you," I said, "and I must say that you look incredibly stunning this evening. I placed my hand on one side of her face and pulled her to me. I placed a, what was supposed to be quick, kiss on her lips. Bella had other things in mind though. She placed the hand that was not holding the flowers in my hair and gently tugged at it, pulling me further into the kiss. We both broke away, breathing heavily. She smiled at me and said, "You look pretty damn handsome yourself." I chuckled a little and grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door.

"Come on. I have a lot planned for tonight. We better get going."


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

BPOV

Edward and I headed out of my apartment after I put the flowers in some water. He told us that we would need to take his car tonight, because where we were going would be too far to walk. Once inside his car, I got a little nervous. Why, I have no idea. Edward and I had been out plenty of times, but that was for lunch. And this was a date. A real date. I had no idea what he expected. Would he want to hold hands? Would he want a kiss at the end of the night? I needed to let go of my insecurities and just have a good time. Whatever happens, I just need to let it happen. I trust Edward completely and he is different than a lot of other guys.

Edward played with his iPod and put on some music to play quietly in the background. I decided to try and find out where we are headed. "So Edward," I began, "can you tell me where we are going?" He looked at me and smiled, a little devilish smile.

"Bella, you know I can't tell you that," he said, "it's a surprise. But don't worry, you will love it, I am sure." I am sure that I would love to do anything with Edward. I mean, I had waited for weeks to be able to hang out with him somewhere other than the diner, so whatever he had planned would be fine with me. He reached across the center console of his car and grabbed my hand and held it. I placed our hands in my lap as he lazily rubbed circles on mine with his thumb. I looked up at him and we both smiled.

We pulled up to the docks and I wondered what on Earth we were doing here. Edward must have noticed my hesitation. "I have heard a lot about these dinner cruises and I thought that you might enjoy it."

"I am sure that I will love it. I have heard about them as well. I have wanted to go on one but I sure as hell wasn't going to go on one by myself," I said laughing. He let go of my hand and went to my side of the car and opened the door for me. I climbed out and he grabbed my hand again as we walked toward the boat. The cruise was called The Royal Argosy. We were immediately seated by the hostess and handed our menus. I looked over the menu and was so shocked by the prices that I gasped. Edward looked up and must have known what the gasp was for because he took my hand from across the table and said, "Bella, do not worry about anything. This is our first date and I wanted to make it special. Now please, order anything you would like." He gave me that crooked, evil smile of his and my mind went blank.

"Ok, fine Edward," I said, "but know that I will be paying for lunch at the diner all week." He smiled and told me that was fine. Of course it was fine. It would take months of daily lunches at the diner to equal our one meal here. I ordered the Portobello Mushroom Steak and Edward ordered the Stuffed Tenderloin. For dessert we had the Tiramisu. It was all very delicious. I had tried some of Edward's entrée and he tasted some of mine. I loved the way he would lean across the table, with fork in hand, to feed me a bite of his food.

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EPOV

So far the date was going very good. I had controlled myself very well. That was until I decided to feed Bella a bite of the Tiramisu. I leaned across the table and held out a bite of it for her. She opened her mouth and I saw just a glimpse of her tongue and all I could think of was tasting her myself. I put the bite in her mouth but a little bit of the cream got on her lip. She stuck her tongue out to lick the cream for her lip and I moaned. I thought I had done it silently, but evidently I hadn't because Bella looked at me and smiled. She took the spoon from me and proceeded to feed me a bite of the dessert. I opened my mouth to take the bite but she had other plans. Most of it got into my mouth, but like her, some of it got on my lips. Before I could lick it off myself, Bella had leaned over and seductively licked the cream off of my lips herself. And good God it was so damn sexy. I moaned again and she just smirked. I immediately raised my hand to get the waiters attention and said "Check please!"

We were now walking hand in hand back to my car. She kept glimpsing at me from under her lashes and smiling. I don't know if she was doing it on purpose or not but if she didn't stop I was going to attack her right here in this parking lot. When we reached the car, I gently pushed her up against the passenger side and kissed her, letting her know how much I wanted her. Breaking away from each other, practically panting, I opened the door to let her inside.

We rode back to her apartment in silence, but you could feel the sexual tension in the air. Once I pulled up to her building, I realized that I didn't want this night to end. She must have come to the same conclusion because she turned toward me, saying "Would you like to come up for a bit? You know, have a glass of wine or something?" I nodded my head yes, unsure if I could actually speak without stuttering. We walked into the building and took the elevator up to her floor, holding hands the entire time.

Once inside her apartment, she told me to go ahead and make myself comfortable on the couch and she would bring out some wine for us. I sat down and suddenly became very nervous. What did she want? Would she want to do anything? Should we do anything? I need to let go of my past and just let what happens, happen.

She came into the living room holding two wine glasses and smiling very sexily. I took the glasses from her and placed them on the coffee table. I grabbed her and pulled her to me. I gently place my hands on both sides of her face, and pulled her into a steamy kiss. She didn't fight me about it and kissed me with just as much urgency. Her hands immediately went up to my hair and my hands, from their own accord, grabbed her ass. She moaned in my mouth and hitched one or her legs around my waist. One of my hands went to rub her thigh and she placed it back down on the floor. Shit I must have went to far. But then, without breaking our kiss, I felt her hands pushing me backwards until the back of my legs hit the couch. I sat down and she immediately startled me. I broke free from her mouth and started kissing and nibbling my way down her jaw line. She began to grind herself against my ever-growing erection and it was now my turn to moan.

"Edward," she said, barely above a whisper," I know I said I wanted to take things slow and you did too. But dammit, I need you to touch me." _Oh there is a God_. She was asking me to touch her. God, how I wanted to touch her. I practically growled and moved one of my hands from her naked thigh and slowly slid it up towards the tie of her dress. I looked into her eyes, making sure this was ok. She looked at me and barely nodded her head and closed her eyes. I untied the dress and removed it from her body. She was wearing a sexy lace bra and panty set that was practically see through, in the same shade of blue as the dress. I picked her up and gently place her down on the couch and I hovered above her. I began kissing my way down her chest. I undid the clasp for her bra, which thankfully, was on the front. I licked her nipple and she moaned. I slowly slid one hand down her torso and made my way to the edge of her panties. I once again looked into her eyes to make sure this was ok.

"Edward, touch me….please" she begged me. I moved my mouth from her nipple and attacked her mouth with mine. I place my hand inside her panties and she moaned in my mouth again. "God Bella, you are so damn wet for me." I began to rub her clit with my thumb while I inserted two fingers inside her. "You are so tight, Baby." And she was. What I wouldn't give to be thrusting my dick inside her right now, rather than my two fingers. She was moaning and panting now. I quickened up my pace and began licking and nibbling her nipples. Her breathing came faster now and I could tell she was close. I began to rub my thumb across her clit at a faster pace and I felt her clinch around my fingers. She closed her eyes and moaned with pleasure. I pulled my hand out of her underwear and she opened her eyes. I placed my two fingers in my mouth and licked her juices from my fingers. Bella grabbed my face and pulled me roughly towards her and kissed me with all her might. I began to grind myself against her but stopped myself. She pulled away and asked me what was wrong.

"You don't have to do this Bella. I wanted to tonight to be about you. I wanted to make you feel good." She smiled at me and spoke, "Well, you certainly did that." I helped her up from the couch and she kissed me again, this time a lot more gently. "That's ok Edward. Because the next time, you are all mine."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

**A/N: A little short, but you get more lemony goodness ahead.**

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BPOV

It took me forever to fall asleep Saturday night after Edward left. I kept running the events of the night through my head. Edward had made me feel so good and I wanted to make him feel just as good. But he stopped me saying that he wanted that night to be about me. All day Sunday I formulated a plan to make sure that Edward would feel as good as he had made me after our date.

Now, on Monday morning, my plan would be put into motion. I took a shower and dressed in one of my more provocative outfits. It wasn't too slutty for the office, but wasn't your typical business suit. I wore a black skirt that reached above the knee and wasn't tight. It was free flowing so that I was able to move in it. Movement was something that I needed to be able to achieve today. I paired it with a blue v-cut sweater that showed off the cleavage that was present due to the black lace push-up bra I wore underneath it. I had on a pair of black lace boy shorts underneath the skirt and finished off the entire outfit with my black stilettos. I looked sexy, but not slutty.

I arrived at my office and put my plan in action. I picked up the phone and dialed Emmett's number down at the site. I knew that Edward would be working down at the site today. Emmett picked up after a couple of rings. "Hello Cullen Construction. Emmett speaking."

"Emmett, it's Bella," I said, hoping like hell he wouldn't ask many questions," I need you to send Edward up to my office. There are some more things I want to discuss with him about the plans for the shelter and I need to do it as soon as possible."

"Sure Bella," he said, no clue that he even suspected something was up," I'll send him up as soon as he gets here." Thank God he wouldn't be asking me any questions. I don't know if I could survive that.

"Thanks Emmett, I really appreciate it."

"No problem, Bella. Talk to you later."

Now, I just had to get my nerves under control. What I was about to do required a lot of confidence and nerve and the way I am acting right now, I will screw it all up. After about 10 minutes, there was a knock at my office door. I casually leaned against the front of my desk and folded my arms across my chest.

"Come in," I said, hoping it was him. Edward opened the door and was already smiling at me. He looked so sexy in his work clothes. Most women prefer men in suits and ties but not me. I mean, don't get me wrong, Edward is sexy as hell in his white button up and black tie and suit. But there is just something about him in what he is wearing today. God help me, he left his hard hat on. He had on a blue flannel shirt that had the sleeves ripped off so it was sleeveless. His jeans wore light colored and had holes in the knees of them. And on his feet were the typical work boots. He might look like a bum to most people, but to me, this is when he is his sexiest.

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EPOV

As soon as I arrived to the site this morning Emmett told me that Bella needed to see me in her office to go over some more things about the plans. I don't remember having to go over anything else with her but who am I to argue with a chance to see her.

I knocked on her door and she immediately said to come in. I opened the door, already smiling. She was looking me up and down and I was doing the same to her. After Saturday night, Bella has been all I can think about. Watching her face as I made her cum had been in my dreams as well as my thoughts, especially the ones I was having while in the shower when I arrived back home after our date. I stopped her from giving me any kind of pleasure because I was afraid if she started that, I wouldn't be able to control myself. I told her that I wanted that night to be all about her, and I truly did.

"Edward, please have a seat so we can go over some things," she told me while pointing towards the couch in her office. I sat down wondering what on Earth we had to go over. As I made myself comfortable she made her way to her office door. And. She. Locked. It. She turned around and leaned back against the door and winked at me. Oh hell.

"Now Edward," she spoke while slowly walking toward me, "I know that you told me that Saturday night was all about me. While I very much appreciate that" she said, now standing right in front of me, between my legs, " this morning, is all about you." And she slowly knelt down in front of me. Oh shit. Without even thinking, I grabbed her face with both my hands and pulled her to me for a very heated kiss. Our tongues were fighting each other for dominance and we were both moaning into each others mouths. She broke away from the kiss and placed both hands on my chest and pushed me to lean back.

"Bella, baby," I said, hoping she would listen, "you don't have to do this. I was more than happy to…" and she cut me off by placing one of her fingers on my lips.

"I know you were. Now let me return the favor." She slowly unbuttoned my jeans and my erection easily sprung out. I had no boxers to wear this morning since I had forgotten to do laundry. She looked up at me and raised one eyebrow in question. I just looked back at her and shrugged my shoulders. She grinned, sexily, and slowly pulled my pants down to my knees. She ran her tongue around the sensitive head capturing the pre-cum that had already collected there. I practically hissed at the contact of her mouth on it. She immediately took all of me in her mouth and I screamed out "Bella!". I fisted my hand in her hair and had a firm grip on the cushion of the couch beside me with the other. She moved her mouth up and down my cock, taking all of me in each time. The way she was going, I wouldn't last long. She began to hum while she was sucking me and I just began chanting, "God Bella, that feels so damn good. Please don't stop. Please don't stop. Please don't stop." When she reached her other hand down and began to play with my balls, that pushed me over the edge. "Bella…..I'm gonna…..cum…" I tried to warn her but she kept going and when I reached my orgasm, she swallowed every bit of it down. She continued to suck me while I rode out my high. Helping me pull my pants back on, I spoke, " Bella, while I really enjoyed that, you didn't have to do it. I enjoyed giving you pleasure and making you feel good the other night."

"I enjoyed making you feel good to Edward," and she placed a chaste kiss on my lips. I do believe that I have the most selfless girlfriend in the entire world.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

**A/N: Ok. We are going to skip ahead, like, 3 months or so. I could just go on and on and write chapters about dates and work and blah blah blah but I just don't wanna do that. LOL**

BPOV

Edward and I have been dating for 3 months now and it has been great. I am so in love. But I haven't told Edward that yet. I just don't know if he feels the same way. I know he cares about me, but is it love? I have no idea. We have done just about everything there is to do with a partner, except have sex. Every time we get to the point where I think it is going to happen, Edward stops us. And I don't blame him because I know he wanted to take it slow. But I can't help but feel that maybe he just doesn't want me like that. I am completely happy with him right now though, so I am not rushing him.

Today we are going to go out on one of the boats and go whale watching. We had been planning this for a while, but the weather had been pretty bad lately. This weekend is supposed to be perfect weather though. I just hope the whole thing is perfect. I plan on telling Edward just how much I care about him today. I am just hoping that he feels the same way.

I pack a picnic lunch to eat on the boat and sit it down in the basket on the table. I get ready to go and sit down on the couch to wait for Edward when there is a knock at the door. I open the door to see Edward standing there. He said that we should dress casual today. I decided to wear my yellow sundress and white sandals. He had chosen a pair of khaki cargo shorts and a blue polo and a pair of flip flops. A pair of Ray Ban shades were pushed up on his head partially hidden by his untamable sex-hair, as I liked to call it.

"Good afternoon, Beautiful," he said, as he pulled me in for a steamy yet quick kiss. He grabbed the picnic basket off the table while I grabbed my purse. We walked down to the car holding hands and hopped inside. The ride was silent, but not uncomfortable. That is one thing I liked about being with Edward. He didn't feel the need to break the silence with meaningless chatter and neither did I.

We pulled up to the arena and parked the car. He grabbed the basket while I grabbed a blanket and my purse. We were greeted by the boat's captain and immediately set out.

EPOV

We had a wonderful day. We ate the picnic lunch Bella had packed and got to see a variety of species of whales. Bella was in awe as she leaned over the side of the boat to catch a glimpse of them. And I was in awe of her. I was so lucky to have found her. I liked her a lot. Who am I kidding? I think I am beginning to love her. But I am so scared to tell her. I don't want to ruin anything like before. We have gotten so close over the past few months and we have done so much together. Yet every time we get close to having sex, I feel the need to pull away. I know she is getting frustrated with me, but I don't want her to feel like she has to do that. I know that she wanted to take it slow and I am trying to respect her wishes as well as mine.

The sun was now setting and it made Bella even more beautiful. She was leaning over the side of the boat with her hands placed on the rails in front of her. I came up behind her and placed one hand on either side of hers. I moved her hair to one side and began kissing her neck. She moaned a little and I smiled. Now was the time. I really need to tell her but I am so damn scared. She leaned her head back onto my shoulder and sighed. I was still kissing down her neck. "I love you Edward."

I froze. Did she really say what I thought she said? Could she possibly have said what I thought I heard? Did she say that she loved me? Did I imagine that? My unresponsiveness must have made her feel uneasy because she immediately began to backpedal. "I…uhm….I mean…..I'm sorry. I shouldn't have.."

I placed my hands on her hips and turned her around. I placed one hand on either side of her face and looked her straight in the eyes. "Don't you ever apologize for saying that. I am sorry that I didn't say anything. I was just shocked. I was about to tell you the same thing. I love you so much Bella." I pulled her to my lips and placed the most gentle kiss on her lips. Bella must have had other ideas because she placed her hands in my hair and forcefully pulled me to her, deepening the kiss. Both of us breathless, we had to break away to breath. I chuckled a little bit and said "Maybe we should hold off on that until we get back to your place." She agreed and I do believe that was the longest hour I have ever had.

We pulled up to Bella's building and my stomach was in knots. I was so nervous and I could tell she felt the same way. She hadn't stopped moving her knee up and down in her seat the whole ride home. We were both quiet the whole elevator ride up. She unlocked her door and led us inside. I needed to show her how much I wanted this. I wanted to make love to her. I needed to make love to her. Now was the time.

I placed the picnic basket on the table as she placed her purse down as well. I walked over to her and placed a hand on both sides of her face. "I love you Isabella Swan" I said as I gently kissed her lips. "I love you too Edward. I love you so much." We began to kiss each other with heated passion. I ran my tongue along her bottom lip, requesting entrance and she accepted. Our tongues mingled together, not lustfully but reverently. This wasn't about lust or sex, this was about love. She gently tugged me down the hallway, towards her bedroom, never breaking our kiss. Once she had the door opened, we walked inside and I kicked it closed behind us with my foot.

We continued to kiss each other passionately. I ran my hands all over her body, alternating between cupping her ass and cupping her breasts. We had both somehow already kicked off our shoes. I found the zipper on the back of her dress and broke away from our kiss to look into her eyes, trying to find some sign that she wanted to stop this. There was none. I slowly lowered the zipper of her dress and let it fall to the floor pooling around her feet. She was standing in front of me now in a strapless white lace bra and matching panties and I swear I almost lost it right there. I attacked her mouth with mine a little more forcefully than before. But I had to slow this down. I wanted to make love to her, not just fuck her. And if I kept up with the pace I was going now, it would all be over too soon. I began to gently kiss down her jaw line and neck. Her hands ran down my chest and found the hem of my shirt. We broke away long enough for her to pull it up over my head and toss it across the room. She began kissing across my chest as I ran my hands through her hair. I found the clasp for her bra and undid it and tossed it across the room as well. She straightened up and looked into my eyes. My eyes roamed from hers and took in the beauty. They were perfect and I reached up to touch them. Her nipples hardened at my touch and she moaned with anticipation. I began to nibble and suck at them. Her hands had made their way to the waist of my pants and she undid the button as I nibbled and sucked on her breasts. She pulled the shorts and boxers down in one swoop and I kicked them away with one of my feet.

I backed her toward the bed and she laid down. I took her foot in one hand and gently kissed my way up her leg. Once I reached her upper thigh, I placed that leg down and repeated my actions with the other one. I laid that leg down and placed my fingers at the waist of those sexy white lace panties. She opened her eyes and looked into mine. She gently nodded and I slowly pulled them down, placing a kiss right on top of her pubic bone, as I uncovered it. She sucked in a breath of air and let out a moan. I smiled, liking that I could cause that reaction in her. I gently crawled up the bed and hovered above her. We began kissing each other again. She ran her hands along my bare back as I rubbed my thumbs across her nipples.

"God Edward," she spoke huskily, "you make me feel so good. I want you so bad. I need you." I began to along her jaw line and down her neck. Her hands had made their way up into my hair and she began to pull it lightly.

I ran a hand down and rubbed her where she needed it most. "Dammit, Bella," I swore, "you are so fucking wet for me. Do you want me that bad? Tell me what you want me to do?" I began to rub her clit in small circles and she was moaning and arching her back.

"I want you to make love to me Edward. I want to feel you inside me. I need to feel you inside me." I moved until I was between her legs and hovered above her. She opened her eyes and looked into mine. I once again searched hers to see if their was any sign that she wanted to stop this. It would be hard to, but if she wanted to stop now, I would do it for her. She moaned and wrapped her legs around me saying "Make love to me Edward."

I kissed her passionately as I pushed myself completely inside her. She felt so tight and warm and inviting. I never knew it could be like this. It was like we were made for each other. She began to moan and breath heavily as I moved in and out of her, finding a rhythm we both liked. As I pushed in and out, feeling as if I was going deeper and deeper each time, she would moan my name over and over. I knew I would not last long this way, so I placed my hand between us and began to rub her clit in small circles with my thumb.

"I need you to cum for me Baby," I whispered into her ear nibbling it afterwards, "I want to feel you clinch around me as you scream out my name." And that must have done it, because I immediately felt her muscles clamp around. I thrust into her a couple more times, and followed right behind her, having I do believe, the most powerful orgasm I have ever had. I collapsed on top of her being careful not to put too much weight on her. After a few minutes, I pulled out of her and rolled over on my side. She was exhausted. I pulled her to me so that her back was against my chest. I pulled the covers up over us and placed a gentle kiss on her neck. "I love you Bella. Always."


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

**A/N: OK guys, this is the chapter I had in my mind when I started this story. **

BPOV

The sun coming through the blinds and shining in my eyes is what awoke me. I felt an arm around me and smiled at the feeling. For the first time in my life, I am completely happy. Edward and I had made love last night. I had let down all my walls and let go of my insecurities and completely trusted him. I told him I was in love with him and he told me the same. I have never felt the way he made feel last night, before. I am so in love with this man beside me and I am completely happy.

I pull myself out of bed carefully, as not to wake Edward up. I put on a robe and walk into my kitchen, planning to make Edward some breakfast. Looking through my fridge and cabinets and noticing that I need to do some grocery shopping, I decide to go down to the diner to grab some takeout. I go into my room, quietly again, and change into some jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt. I pull on a pair of my Chucks and write Edward a quick note letting him know where I am in case he wakes up. I leave the note on the counter in the kitchen and make my way out of the apartment.

Walking down the street, I feel like I am practically floating on air. If you would have asked me a year ago if I thought I would be where I am now, the answer would have been a resounding "Hell no!" To have a guy be absolutely in love with me and for me to feel the same way about him is a dream come true for me. I know I might sound corny, but it is true.

I make my way into the diner and place my order with the waitress. I step back and look around the diner and spot someone I know. I walk over to him and place my hand on his shoulder. "Well who do we have here?" I ask him. He turns around and smiles widely at me and envelops me in a huge hug. Jake and I have been friends forever. We grew up together in Forks and our dads have always been best friends. We tried out the whole relationship thing, but both of us realized that we would only ever care for each other like sibilings.

"So Jake, what have you been up to?" I asked him, taking a seat in the booth across from him. "Nothing much Bells," he said taking a bite of his food.

" Jake, I have got someone I want you to meet," I told him honestly, "I just me her and I think that she would be perfect for you. Her name is Vanessa."

"Oh come on Bella," he groaned, " do you remember the last time you tried to set me up? Do you remember how bad that ended?" I thought back to what had happened and reached my hand across the table and laid it on top of his and we both started laughing. "Yeah, I am sorry about that Jake. Who knew she could be so psycho? But seriously, would you just take her number? Call her sometime? I think you guys would really hit it off." I reached into my purse and grabbed a pen and wrote Vanessa's number down on a business card and handed it to Jake. He took it saying, "Only for you Bells. Look, I gotta go. I'll give you a call sometime." I stood up and gave him a hug and waved as he walked out the opposite door I had come in.

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EPOV

I awoke to the sound of, what I thought to be, a door shutting. I rolled over to drape my arm over Bella, finding her side of the bed empty. I ran my hands through my hair, wondering where she was. I got up and pulled my boxers on and made my way into the kitchen. I spotted a piece of paper on the counter and saw that it was a note….

_Edward_

_Went down to the diner to pick up some breakfast. Be back soon._

_XOXO_

_Bella_

So, that was a door that I heard shut. I hurried into the room and pulled my clothes on. If I hurried I would be able to catch her and we could eat together at the diner. I finished getting dressed and walked out of the apartment. Walking down the street I began to think about the past few months. I never thought I could feel like this. I let my walls down last night and it had been amazing. I had a girl that I loved me and she loved me just as much. Bella was everything I ever needed. I was completely happy and in love.

I made my way to the diner and stopped in front of it. I spotted Bella. She was sitting with some huge, tanned guy and they were laughing. I stood there just watching. She reached her hand across the table and laid her hand on top of his. What the fuck? I knew it was too good to be true. What the hell was I thinking? I should have known damn better. I continued to stare at them and saw her hand him a piece of paper. _Probably her phone number. I had fallen in love with a fucking whore, looks like it. God, I am such a pathetic dumbass mother fucker. I am so fucking stupid._

I see the guy get up and leave and I make my way into the diner. I walk up to where Bella is standing and I practically scream at her "What the Fuck, Bella!" She turns around to look at me and is shocked. She must not have been expecting to get caught. "I see how you are. You tell me you love me and then fuck me, then leave me." She was almost in tears and it serves the bitch right. "I don't know what you are talking about Edward. Can we please talk about this outside." She goes to walk out the door and I grab her wrist, twisting her around saying, "Oh Hell no. You are not leaving here until you talk to me."

And before I knew it, I was on the floor, my head was throbbing and there was blood pouring from my nose.


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

BPOV

I was sprawled across my bed surrounded my a mountain of used tissues. It had been three days and I hadn't left my apartment. I called Rose once and told her that I had the flu and she believed me so work was taken care of. I had done nothing but sleep and cry and sleep and cry some more since Sunday morning. I was so happy. And in a matter of minutes, it all came crashing down around me.

I sat up in my bed and there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" I called out.

"Bella, it's Emmett." _Shit_. "Rose wanted me to stop by and pick up some files or something that you had here at your apartment." I looked at myself in the mirror and groaned. Oh well, I was supposed to be sick so I was supposed to look like shit, right? I opened the door and let Emmett in. He took one look at me and went and sat down in my living room. Great, here comes the questions.

"Look Bella," he began, "I know you aren't sick. This has nothing to do with being sick. We haven't seen you in days and my brother is acting like a complete dick. Now, what the hell happened?"

I don't know what happened but suddenly everything started spilling out of me. " We had a great time on our date Saturday, Emmett. We went out whale watching and then we said we loved each other and we made love and it was wonderful. And then I got up on Sunday morning and went to the diner to get us some breakfast. While I was there I saw an old friend from back home and I sat down to talk to him. Then he left and Edward came in and he….he…..he…." I couldn't go on. I was sobbing into Emmett's chest now and could barely catch my breath.

Once I had calmed down, I pulled away from Emmett and he just stared at me. What the hell? Was he mad at me now? He began to speak, "So let me get this straight. You told him you loved him, then you made love and then he saw you sitting down and talking with some guy?"

"Yeah, but I don't see what that has to do with anything Emmett."

"Oh, God, Bella. It has everything to do with everything. Tell me, has Edward ever told you why he left Chicago?"

"No, he just said that he had just gotten out of a relationship."

"While this isn't really my place to tell you this, I feel the need that someone has to. Back in Chicago, Edward had a girlfriend named Jessica. She was really beautiful and she knew it. Edward and her dated for a while before ever "doing" anything. Jessica was getting really impatient so she told him that she loved him. Edward believed her so that night they "consummated" their relationship. The next morning Edward woke up and she was gone. Later that day, he found her sucking face with some guy. He confronted her about it and she said that she was done with him. She got to fuck him and she was happy. So basically, they said they loved each other, they screwed and she left him."

I suddenly got very nauseous. Edward had thought that I had fucked him over. When he walked into that diner Sunday morning, he thought I was pulling the same shit that she did. I was physically sick to my stomach. I got up and ran to the bathroom and vomited up what little bit of food I had been able to eat the past few days. I can't believe that Edward didn't trust me enough to know that I wouldn't do that to him. But who am I to judge, I might as well have done the same thing.

Finishing up in the bathroom, I made my way back in the living room to talk with Emmett. "Thank you so much for telling me about that Emmett. I can't believe how bad that girl screwed Edward over."

"Yeah, I know. She really fucked with his mind. I knew that you would never do anything like that though. You just need to talk to him Bella. Explain your side of the story, and just pray that he listens." I hugged Emmett one last time before he walked out the door of the apartment. I needed to go and see Edward and I needed to do it as soon as possible.

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A couple of hours later, I am standing in front of Edward's apartment door. I am scared to knock but I go ahead and do it anyway. Edward opens the door and he looks like shit. He has a huge purple bruise across his face and looks like he hasn't slept in days.

"I just wanted to know if I could talk to you?" I said hesitantly. He moved aside and motioned his hand for me to come on in. I walked inside his apartment and just stood there. I didn't know what to do or what to say. So I just spit it all out. "Emmett told me about Chicago. What you saw was not what you think. Jake was just a friend from back home. I saw him there and decided to sit and have a talk with him. I was actually trying to set him up with Vanessa, a new girl at the center." Edward just stood there staring at me.

I decided to try again. "Edward, what happened to your face?" He looked at me in shock. I was confused. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked him.

"Bella, I can't do this. I just can't do this with you." he repeated over and over. "I knew not to get into a relationship and it is just not gonna work." He was practically pushing me out the door now. "Ok fine. If you don't want to do this, I get it. I screwed up. But can you at least tell me what happened to your face. Who did this to you?"

Before shutting the door in my face, he looked at me and said "You Bella. You did this to my face." _What the hell did he mean I did this?_


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

**A/N: Ok guys. This is a very short chapter. But I think it might explain some things. I try to write longer chapters, but give me a break, this is my first full-fledged story. **

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**EPOV**

Bella just left and I was more confused than ever. She actually acted like she didn't have a clue as to what was going on. No more than an hour after she left, there was a knock at my door. It was Rosalie. What in the hell is my brothers girlfriend doing here?

I opened the door and let her come in. I led her to the living room and we both sat down. I figured this has something to do with Bella so I decided to go ahead and let her have her say.

"Look Edward. I don't know what has gone on with you two, but Bella just called me crying hysterically." I snorted out loud and Rose looked at me like she wanted to kill me. I was confused.

"Edward, she told me that she explained what happened with that guy. That he was a friend. Didn't she tell you that?"

"Yeah, Rose, she told me all about that."

"Well then," she said, "tell me why you guys didn't just make up and get back together?"

Oh crap. Here we go. Try and guilt trip me into taking your friend back. "Well Rose, first off, I don't really want to stay with a girl who is going to go all Tae Kwan Do on my ass when she gets pissed off at me."

"Wait a minute Edward. What do you mean she went all Tae Kwan Do on your ass? What did she do? "

"Well Rose," I said to her, "she knocked me on my ass and practically shoved my nose into my brain."

"Bella only uses her Tae Kwan Doe in self defense, if she feels threatened. So maybe I should just ask you, what the hell did you do to her Edward?" she asked me getting angrier by the minute.

"Well, I walk past the front of the diner and see Bella with what's his name, Jake. He gets up and leaves and I walk in and confront Bella. She gets ready to leave and I grab her by the wrist, twist her around and tell her she isn't leaving until she talks to me."

"Oh shit, shit, shit, tell me you didn't Edward. This is bad, real bad," she says. I am getting a little scared now. What the hell does she mean this is bad. "Edward, you saw Bella today right?" I nod my head and she just shakes hers. "Did she remember doing this to you? Your injuries?" I shake my head no and she shakes her head again.

"What the hell Rose? What does all this head shaking mean?"

"Edward," she begins, " this is really not my place to tell you this. But I figure I might as well so you can see the severity of the situation you are now in. It all started a year ago back home. Bella was in love with this guy . They were all lovey dovey and sweet and everything. Then he began to change. He would beat up on Bella. He would beat the crap out of her until she would pass out from the pain. " I began to clench my fists until my knuckles turned white. "One day, when she had finally had enough, she decided to leave he grabbed her by the wrist, breaking it, and told her that she was going to stay and talk to him." Shit shit shit. What I had done to Bella, was the same thing that asshole had done to her. I dropped my head into my hands as Rose continued speaking. "He beat the shit out of Bella, and if her roommate wouldn't have pulled up when she did, he would have raped her. So I am thinking that when you grabbed her, Bella basically blacked out and did to you, what she wishes she could have done to him that day."

"Shit, Shit, Shit," I kept repeating over and over. "I am such an asshole. I fucking grabbed her and she thought I was going to hurt her. Shit, I would never hurt her, but she had no idea of that. I am sure I looked like I was going to hurt her that day, but I would never do anything like that to her. I mean, shit Rose, I love her. She is my life now."

"Well, Lover Boy, I think you need to go and tell Bella all this, not me."


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

EPOV

I had now lost track of how many times I had actually called Bella. She wasn't picking up though. Not that I could blame her. The last time I had seen her I had been such an asshole and practically told her I didn't want to see her anymore. I wouldn't have answered the phone either.

So this is why I am now standing here in front of Bella's door, about to beat it down. But she isn't answering her door either. Dammit. I have really screwed this up. How could I have been such a dick to her? Of course, I hadn't known about the guy from back home. I freaked out on her about Jake and she hadn't known about Jessica back in Chicago. Basically, we had both fucked up here. We had a lot to discuss and I just needed to see her to be able to do that.

After beating on her door for about 15 minutes and a threat of her neighbors calling the cops on me, I decided to leave. I walked out of her building and realized that I just didn't want to go back to my empty apartment. I decided to go by the shelter site and work on some of my drawings. I used the walk over to think about what exactly I wanted to say to Bella when I saw her again. I would tell her how sorry I was and how much I really did want this to work. I needed her to take me back. I was so in love with her.

I was looking down at the ground not looking where I was going really when someone ran right into me and nearly knocked me down. I looked up to see who the hell it was. "Edward," the man questioned. It was Michael. He was a new hire for the construction of the shelter. I got to work with him a few days last week and he seemed like a pretty cool guy.

"Yeah, man," I said, "where are you off to in a hurry? You nearly bowled me over." I looked at him and he was sweating profusely.

"No where man," he said, " Just taking a little jog. Guess I should look where I am going better next time." I looked at him. His clothing, a pair of black jeans and a dark hoodie, seemed a bad choice for jogging but whatever. "Where are you headed to Edward?"

"Me?" I said, "I am headed over to the site. I wanna look at some of the plans for a while."

"Ok man," he said, "don't work too hard."

And with that, I continued my stroll to the site. I walked in and the site completely floored me. There was a huge pile of rubble at the back of the area. I made my way to it and I saw a pair of feet sticking out from underneath. A pair of Black Chucks were on those feet. _Oh God! No! No! No!_

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BPOV

**2 hours earlier**

After I had talked to Rose on the phone, I got up and took a shower. I looked like hell and I knew it. I was hoping the warm water would make me feel somewhat better and it did, at least physically. I was still so hurt emotionally. I had automatically assumed that Edward would take me back once I explained to him the whole situation with Jake. But he hadn't. And then he said that I had caused the injuries to him. How in the hell had he come to that conclusion? While getting dressed, I decided to go down to the shelter site. I just wanted to do something to keep my mind off of Edward and going over some of the designs Esme had sent me was just the way to do it.

As I made my way to the site, I wondered why Edward hadn't told me about Jessica. But I really couldn't blame him. I hadn't told him everything about my past either. If he would ever give me another chance, I promised myself, I will tell him everything about my past. Everything that happened in Forks.

I walked into the site and just stood there. I closed my eyes and envisioned what it would look like completed. It was going to look beautiful. And it was going to help so many people. I just wish I could have helped Tanya. I suddenly heard footsteps behind me. I turned around, looking and spoke loudly "Hello? Is anyone there?" No one responded so I just brushed it off as my imagination. I turned back around and bent over to pull the designs out of my bag. The last thing I remember is a heavy, crushing weight and total darkness.


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

EPOV

As soon as I saw those black Chucks my mind went crazy. Bella had a pair of black Chucks that she absolutely loved. She said that she wore them all the time because they were more comfortable than the heels she had to wear during the week. So immediately upon seeing them, I knelt down to the floor and began to carefully remove the rubble. _God please don't let it be her. I can't lose her now. I have to let her know how sorry I am. Please don't let her die, God, please. _I had to get these thoughts out of my head.

As I pulled the rubble off piece by piece, it became more clear that it was Bella. _Why was she even here? Was this place that unsafe that some of the construction material just fell over on top of her? _and most importantly _Had she come hoping to see me?_ As I got the last piece of rubble off of her body, I saw her face. She was unconscious and had likely been the whole time. There was blood coming from her nose and I panicked. I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and called an ambulance.

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The ride with Bella unconscious in the back of the ambulance had to have been the longest ten minutes of my entire life. I watched the EMT's do their jobs and silently prayed that she would be ok. If something happened to her, I don't know what I would do. I had reacted horribly the other day towards her and now I might never have the chance to apologize to her.

I was now in the waiting room pacing back and forth. I hadn't heard anything from the doctors and I was beginning to get worried. I called Alice, Jasper, Rose and Emmett and they were all on their way. As I began what was probably my five hundredth lap around the tiny waiting area, the doctor came through the double doors. I immediately ran up to him and anxiously waited for him to say something.

"Hello," he said holding out his hand for me to shake, " My name is Dr. Aro. I assume you are the gentleman to arrive with the young lady in the ambulance."

"Yes, " I said, " Bella. Bella is my girlfriend. Please can you tell me how she is?" I don't think I can take much more of this. If someone doesn't tell me something soon I am going to bust through those doors myself and go and find her on my own.

"Well, why don't we have a seat so we can discuss her condition," he said motioning toward the rather uncomfortable orange plastic chairs that I had the joy of staring at for the past two hours. If he wanted to sit and talk this had to be bad.

"No thank you. I would rather not sit and talk. Please, just tell me how she is."

"Sir, she has a lot of bruising. She broke a few ribs and as you very well know she was unconscious when you brought her in."

"Yes, I know. Has she gained consciousness yet? Has she woken up?" I was just before grabbing this doctor by his shoulders and shaking him until he told me everything I needed to know.

"No and that is why I wanted to speak to you. She has had some swelling in her brain due to her head injury. We don't think we will need to do any surgery but she is going to be in a coma for a while. It is her body's way of healing itself."

I felt my knees almost give way underneath me as I grabbed onto the wall next to me for support. _Bella, my Bella, is in a coma. He has no clue how long she will be in a coma. What if she never wakes up? What if I never get to tell her how sorry I am and how much I love her? What if I never feel her arms wrapped around me again? What if I never hear that beautiful laugh of hers and see that gorgeous smile?_ All these thoughts were running through my head and I almost lost it right then.

"Can I go in and see her Doctor? Can I please see her? I just want to be with her," I pleaded with him over and over. He placed a hand on my shoulder and led me down the corridor. I have never been a fan of hospitals and now I can almost positively say that was not going to change anytime soon. He stopped in front of a door and said "Please, just sit quietly with her. Let her know you are there. Some people say that patients in a coma can hear others talking to them. I myself, am a believer in that. It is up to you if you believe it or not." And with that the doctor walked off.

I opened the door slowly and what I saw finally broke the dam and tears flowed from my eyes.


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**EPOV**

I walked into the room, tears flowing down my face. Bella was laying on the hospital bed. She was battered and bruised and I had not been there to save her. I sat down in the chair next to the bed and slid it so that I could be close to her. I would never be apart from her again, if she would have me.

She had so many wires and tubes around her. There was a constant beeping that would be aggravating if not for the fact that it was that sound that comforted me and let me know she was still with me. I pulled her hand into mine and gently kissed each knuckle. She looked so peaceful lying there.

"Bella, baby," I spoke to her, "I am so sorry for the other day. Please, Please you have to forgive me. I never meant to hurt you." I cradled her hand in mine and the tears continued to flow. I was practically sobbing now. "Baby, please come back to me. Please. I will make it up to you, every day for forever if you just come back to me. Please baby. I can't live in a world where you don't exist. I can't. Don't make me." I was pleading with her. I placed my head down on the side of her bed and let the emotion over take me.

I was sobbing so loudly that I didn't even know someone had entered the room until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I lifted my head to look at who it was. Emmett stood there with tears in his eyes. I launched myself into his arms and sobbed even more. He placed his strong arms around me. I said nothing. I just cried and cried. I could faintly hear other voices in the room. It must have been Alice, Jasper and Rose. I have no idea because my big brother was hugging me with all his might, making sure I didn't fall apart.

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EmPOV

When I got the phone call, I could tell in his voice that Edward was near breaking. I had never seen him like this but it was pretty close to this back in Chicago. At least that is what I thought.

I was outside Bella's room with Rose, Alice and Jasper and I could hear Edward inside. He was sobbing uncontrollably. He was begging her to come back to him. He was pleading with her. He loves her. He really does.

I opened the door and what I saw filled my eyes with tears. My baby brother was sitting beside the love of his life begging her to come back to him. He was shaking due to his crying so loudly. He hadn't heard us come in. I walked over to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me and it broke my heart. His eyes were red and puffy and he just looked at me like he wanted me to fix it all. He launched himself at me and I hugged him with all my might. I wish like hell I could make it all better for him.

I held onto my baby brother and made sure that in this moment, he didn't fall apart. If I couldn't bring the love of his life back to him myself, I would make sure that I kept him together for when she came back to him on her own.

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EPOV

Three days, nine hours and forty two minutes. That is how long Bella had been lying in this hospital bed. I hadn't left her side for longer than 5 minutes. I would go use the bathroom in her room and come right back. I hadn't taken a complete shower the whole time I had been here. I would wash myself with a washcloth in the sink, brush my teeth and start my day.

I really hadn't needed to call anyone about my missing work. Emmett understood. Hell, I think he was here just about as much as I was. All of them, Emmett, Rose, Alice and Jasper, had all tried to get me to leave. To go home, and get a shower, get something to eat. I refused. They took turns bringing me my meals. The one time they had tried to drag me out of the room to go to the cafeteria I had come very close to laying both Jasper and Emmett out. They hadn't tried again. Both Rose and Alice had their own way of trying to get me to leave the room. They told me that Bella wouldn't want to see me like this. But I knew that was a lie. I know that if our places were switched and it was me lying in that bed, she would refuse to leave my side. That is just how we are.

I have once again taken my place by her bedside. I have taken to reading her some poetry. At first I was telling her all about my childhood but I soon realized that we had already discussed most of these things during our daily diner lunches before we had even gotten together. So I picked up the book I had gotten Alice to bring over and found the poem I stopped on earlier. I picked up Bella's hand and held it in mine and began to read.

_My true-love hath my heart and I have his,_

_By just exchange one for the other given;_

_I hold his dear and mine he cannot miss;_

_There never was a better bargain driven._

_My true-love hath my heart and I have his,_

_His heart in me keeps him and me in one;_

_My heart in him his thoughts and senses guides;_

_He loves my heart for once it was his own,_

_I cherish his because in me it bides._

_My true-love hath my heart and I have his,_

As I read the final lines, I could have sworn I felt a gentle squeeze on my hands. I had imagined this numerous times through out the past few days so I closed my eyes and silently prayed _Please let her be coming back to me, God. Please let her be waking up. _I opened my eyes and slowly raised my head and was met with what had to be the most beautiful pair of chocolate brown eyes staring back at me.

**A/N: The poem is titled My True Love Has My Heart by Phillip Sydney.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**A/N: I want to thank KODEA1 for her help with this chapter. She is trying to help me make them longer and more descriptive. I tried. I probably didn't do too well, but I tried. Anyways.....**

BPOV

As I lie here in the quiet darkness, I realized that my body felt like it weighed a ton. I could hear a faint beeping sound in the background and it was really beginning to annoy me. My head was extremely fuzzy and it hurt. A lot. I smelled a familiar smell. It smelled like something I have smelled before. And then I heard a voice- a beautiful voice. A voice I had been longing to hear. It sounded so heavenly. Is that where I am? Am I in Heaven? I wondered as I listened more intently. The voice was speaking so low that I couldn't understand what it was saying. I tried to clear my head of the fogginess that had taken over.

_He loves my heart for once it was his own, _

_I cherish his because in me it bides_

_My true-love hath my heart and I have his_

I felt a hand in mine and at those words I tried to move my hand. Whether or not it is moving, I had no clue. I felt so heavy and weighed down. I tried to open my eyes, realizing that I need to figure out where the hell I am. Blinking several times to clear my blurred vision I took a look around me. I had no idea where I was and I began to get a little frightened. It was so bright around me so I squinted my eyes until they could adjust. And then I remembered the voice and the words spoken. The words had been so beautiful yet he sounded so sad. I looked down to where he was. My Angel. My Edward. He was not speaking now. I wondered why he had stopped speaking the beautiful words to me. He wouldn't even look up at me. After several moments, he turned his head my way and looked into my eyes. His green eyes were not as vibrant as I remembered. I was used to them looking like sparkling emeralds, and right now they were far from that. They were all puffy and bloodshot. There were dark purple lines under his eyes. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days. This was not the way my Edward looked at all.

With a scratchy voice, I tried to speak. "Edward," was all I could manage. I hoped to convey all I wanted to say in my eyes and that one word. He let out a huge breath he was obviously holding and just smiled that brilliant smile my way. I managed a weak one back. "Oh Bella," he said while moving up to gently kiss my forehead, "My Bella." That sounded so good. _My Bella_. And yes, I am eternally his. Something doesn't seem right though. Why did he look so lost? Why did he look so sad? I searched my mind and couldn't remember. I had to find out why and fix it.

"Where am I Edward?" I asked him, truly confused. He sat back down and took my hand in his again. He began to worry me a little bit as he looked down and frowned.

"You are in the hospital. You had an accident at the shelter work site," he told me. I began to think back. Yes. I remembered going to the site. Why was I there? Oh! That's right. Our fight. Edward doesn't want me. I went to tell him that I understood all about why he reacted the way he did to Jacob. He wouldn't take me back. I began to frown at this memory and was scared that this was why he looked so sad. Maybe he figured it would be easier if something horrible had happened to me. He wouldn't' have to deal with me then.

He must have sensed my mood change because he immediately began to speak. "Bella, baby. I am so sorry for the other day. I never would have said the things I did or done the things I did if I had known what happened to you. These past three days have been hell for me…."

Three days? What the hell? How had I been here for three days and not even realized it. "Three days," I asked him, confused once again. How had I lost three days? I felt myself begin to panic, but it easily subsided once I felt Edward squeeze may hand lightly in his.

"Yes, baby," he said," you have been in the hospital and in a coma for three days. When you were at the site some building materials fell on you and you were badly injured. Do you have any idea what happened at the site? How the things fell on you?"

I began to rack my brain thinking about that night. I remembered walking into the site and looking around. I closed my eyes thinking back to that night. I had gone their so that I could get some things done that might would take my mind off of Edward and everything that had happened. And then…….

"Yes, Edward," I said quickly, "I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around to see if someone was there and that is the last thing I remember." I hated that I couldn't remember more.

EPOV

Someone was there with her in the building? Someone could have done this on purpose to her? Bella nor her company have any enemies that I know of. Who could have done this and for what reason did they have to hurt her?

As I ran all of these questions through my head, I remembered Bella's reaction earlier. I needed to tell her how I feel now. I needed to make sure that she knows I will never, ever do anything to hurt her again. "Bella baby," I began, "when I thought I had lost you, it was the worst feeling in the world. I never want to be apart from you again. That is, if you will still have me." I was scared to death that she wouldn't feel the same way after the way I had treated her before. I slowly raised my head to look at her.

She looked at me in shock. "I thought you didn't want me anymore Edward? Of course I still want you. I still want to make this work." I have to say I was a little shocked. I was sure that she would tell me to get lost and that she didn't need someone who didn't trust her. But no, not her. She amazes me every day. You never know what to expect with her. My Bella is awake and she still wants to be with me. I know that we still need to talk about some things and that includes the entire story of Chicago.

"Edward, I think we need to talk about some things though. I want to tell you the entire truth of what happened back home. I know someone told you but I want to tell you myself."

"Bella, you don't have to," I said. I knew that talking about our pasts was going to open up a lot of old wounds that both of us thought that were healed. But if we were going to move on, together, we needed to talk.

"No Edward," she interrupted me," I don't want us to have any secrets. I want to be able to open up to you about this. I need to." I stood up and gently kissed her forehead again. I was still elated that she even wanted to be with me.

"Of course Bella. I want to tell you everything too. As soon as you are ready, I am too."


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

BPOV

After awaking, I had to stay in that dreaded hospital for three more days. It was getting really monotonous when all you could do was lie in bed and watch dreaded reruns of old tv shows and soap operas with horrible actors. I had Edward with me almost the entire time though. Alice told me that he hadn't left my side once during the whole ordeal, even refusing to shower or eat. I was finally able to convince him to at least go home and shower and change. He would only go if Alice promised to stay with me the entire time. And she did. We turned on one of the many soap operas that came on during the day and made fun of the acting and the dreadful story lines.

I had decided to stay out of work for the rest of the week and return on Monday. It was now Sunday night and Edward and I were lounging on my bed. We had yet to speak of what happened in our pasts and I felt like we really needed to.

"Edward, we really need to talk about what has happened to us in the past," I told him while sitting up. He looked at me with sad eyes and nodded his head. I know he doesn't want to drudge up the past for either of us, but to get past it, I feel like we need to.

"I know we need to Baby," he says, pulling me into a hug, "It's just that it is going to be so hard. Not so much for me, but it will be for you." I have to agree. While what happened to Edward was horrible, I couldn't help but agree that mine was definitely worse.

"Why don't I go first," he said while looking at me with questioning eyes. I nodded my head and he smiled that brilliant smile.

And he began his story. "Jessica and I met and we became fast friends. I hadn't really dated much so I wasn't used to all the attention. We began to get closer and started dating. I had heard rumors about her but refused to believe them. I was gullible and believe every lie she fed me. She tried for months and months to get me to sleep with her. I adamantly told her that I refused to sleep with someone that didn't love me. After that conversation, she must have come up with her plan. Over the next few weeks she became really lovey dovey and crap and I totally fell for it. I began to fall in love with her, or I should say the idea of her. So, I took her out to a special dinner and planned to tell her that I loved her. I told her and she told me. I had no idea that it was complete bullshit so, we slept together that night. I was such an idiot. I got up the next morning and found that she was already gone. So I got up and went out. That is when I found her sucking face with some guy. She told me she never loved me and that she just used me to find out how good I was in bed. She broke me Bella."

He looked up at me and their were unshed tears in his eyes. My eyes began to fill with tears and I pulled him to me. "It's ok Edward. I completely understand why you reacted to Jacob and I the way you did. If I had known what happened to you, I would have never….."

"It's ok. I understand why you beat the crap out of me," he said smirking at me. I chuckled a bit. Then he looked at me seriously, "But I do think you need to explain to me what really happened to you back home. I want to hear the complete story from you."

EPOV

After telling my story, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I had yet to share the entire story with anyone outside of my immediate family and to be able to share it with Bella felt really good. I know that telling her story is going to be hard for Bella, but if she gets even half the relief that I have, it will be good for her.

She gets off of the bed and walks to her closet. I silently wonder what she is doing. I am sure that she will tell me in her own time. She sits down on the bed beside me and places a wooden box on the bed between us. I looked at her face and her eyes were already filled with tears. This was going to be so hard for her. I pulled her hands in mine and held them in my lap. I try to reassure her without speaking. I rub lazy circles on the tops of her hands with my thumbs trying to relax her and let her know I was here when she was ready.

"I really have no idea why I saved all this stuff. I guess I was just…just….hell, I don't know. I do know that I need to share this with you." She took one of her hands and placed it on the box. She swallowed hardly. She was sobbing uncontrollably now. Her whole body was shaking.

"I don't know if I can do this right now Edward," she sobbed, "I know I want to tell you, but I don't know if I can do this right now." I pulled her to me and held her tightly. I knew it was going to be hard but until now, I don't think I realized just how hard it would be.

"It's ok Baby. I know you want to tell me and I understand that you need time. I will be here whenever you are ready. I just want you to know that you can open up to me." She nodded her head and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. I knew that she needed to get to bed since tomorrow is her first day back to work.

"Why don't I just lie here with you and hold you until you fall asleep?" I asked her. She smiled that beautiful smile at me and said "I would love that."

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The bright morning sun filtered in through the window and woke me up. I rolled over and looked at the side of the bed where Bella should have been and found a note.

_Edward,_

_I decided to get an early start to my first day back at work. Thank you for last night._

_Love you,_

_Bella_

I smiled at the note and glanced at the wooden box that I had placed on her dresser last night. I got out of the bed and walked over to it. Bella said that she would tell her herself and I trust her to. I just want to see what is in the box.

I open it up and find several different things. There are some ticket stubs, a few dried flower petals, and lots of pictures. I thumb through some of them. I laugh at the site of Bella in her younger years. Then I come upon the last photo in the pile. I drop the rest of the photos I had been holding, clutching this one in my hand in shock.


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**A/N: This is just a short little chapter. The next one should be up some time tomorrow.**

EPOV

I took off out of Bella's apartment with the photograph in my pocket. While making my way through the busy streets I called Alice and asked her to meet me at the diner. She agreed only after asking me numerous times what I wanted to discuss with her. I simply told her that I had some questions I wanted to ask and that they needed to be done in person.

The whole way to the diner I was racking my mind about this picture. Why on Earth did she have a picture with him? Is he the guy? Is he the one who hurt My Bella? I had to know the answers to these questions which is why I was now walking into the busy diner to talk with Alice.

I took a seat at the usual table that Bella and I occupied. I wasn't sure how long Alice would be since she said she was already on the way to the office. I couldn't risk her letting Bella know that I had nosily gone through the box of her possessions without her. I now couldn't decide whether it was a good thing she wasn't there this morning when I found this picture or not.

I began to nervously play with the napkin dispenser on the table. I was tearing up napkins into tiny pieces on the table when I heard a tiny voice above me.

"Edward?" the voice said as I slowly raised my head. Thank God Alice had come. I needed to have some answers and I needed them now. I motioned her with my hand to have a seat across from me and she did. She looked a little worried and I couldn't blame her. I probably looked completely disheveled and broken. She knew that Bella and I were back together but she probably wasn't too sure due to my appearance.

"Edward," she asked, "what is this little impromptu meeting about exactly? You scared me to death this morning. I automatically assumed something was wrong with Bella but you assured me that is not the case. Judging from the look on your face, I am not entirely convinced. So, tell me what this is all about." She sat patiently waiting for me to get on with it. I pulled the picture out of my pocket and placed it on the table, near Alice, so that she could see it. I was hoping she could tell me more about him and judging from the sharp intake of breath, I am sure she can.

"Where did you get this from?" she asked in a harsh whisper.

"Bella sat down with me last night to discuss our pasts. I told her all about what happened to me in Chicago and she was prepared to tell me all about what happened to her. She pulled this box from her closet and placed it on the bed. She wanted to tell me but she couldn't handle it. This morning, after she left for work I decided to look in the box. I know, I know, I should have waited for her but I just wanted to take a little peak. Now Alice, can you tell me who this is in the picture?"

Alice took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She looked as if she was fighting some internal battle on whether or not she should tell me. "Bella thought he was the love of her life. She loved him more than anyone at the time. She thought he would always be there for her. She needed him to be. He was such an asshole, and I am sure that he still is." I was getting impatient. I just needed one bit of information.

"It's him Edward. He is the one that hurt her. He is the one that broke her. He is…." I reached both of my hands into my hair and pulled it in frustration.

"Alice, all I need to know is this son-of-a-bitch's name. Just tell me his name." I looked at her with such intensity that she immediately spoke.

"Mike. Michael Newton."

She had barely gotten the Michael part out of her mouth when I was up from the booth and running for the door. I had no idea how many people I had knocked down in the diner but I am sure they wouldn't be the last ones. I made my way down the busy street headed to the work site. I pushed through the people begging them to get the hell out of my way.

I finally made it to the work site and immediately went into Emmett's office. I was a little out of breath when Emmett noticed me. He walked over to me and looked at me in shock.

"Edward, man, what's wrong?" He asked, patting me on the back. I took a few deep breaths and asked him what I ran all the way over here for.

"Where the hell is Michael?" I practically growled at him.

Emmett was a little taken aback by my tone. "I had some plans that I needed to be approved and he offered to take them up to Bella's office for me."

"Shit!" I screamed, taking off out of his office and making my way toward the office building next door.


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**A/N: Sorry for the wait. My kids have been sick and I have been back and forth to the doctors office and the ER. So without further wait, Chapter 25.**

BPOV

I was really looking forward to going back to work this morning. I really hated just sitting around and not doing anything, but I understood the doctors recommendation and Edward's request. They just wanted me to rest up and take it easy.

I woke up before Edward this morning and decided to let him sleep in. He had been taking care of me all weekend and he deserved to sleep in for a while. I took my shower and got dressed and he was still sleeping. I looked at the sleeping man on my bed and smiled. His copper colored hair was even more disarrayed than usual. There was even a small smile on his face and I wondered to myself if he was dreaming of me. After last night's breakdown, I wasn't sure if he would even want to be with me. I promised him to tell him exactly what happened to me but I just couldn't do it last night. When I pulled that box down from the shelf in my closet, all those fears just came rushing back to me at full force. But he just held me all night and promised he would be there for me when I was ready. I did not deserve this man. But I vow that I will do my best to become someone he does deserve, for as long as he will have me.

I gently kiss him no the forehead and he still doesn't stir. I smile to myself and decide to leave him a note. I place the note on the pillow next to him and pick up my things to head to the office.

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Walking into the office, I smile at Angela and tell her that I will be in my office. She mentions that Emmett wanted me to approve some more plans for the shelter and I told her to send him up when he arrived.

I placed my coffee and briefcase on the desk and sat down in the chair. I had come so far in a year and I was truly proud of myself. When this shelter opened up I would be able to help so many women and children. I would make sure that the same thing that happened to Tanya and almost happened to me, never happened to another woman in this city. I stood up and walked to the window. I peered out at the beautiful skyline and heard my door open. It must have been Emmett coming in to get those designs approved.

I turn around to face the door, smiling. My smile was immediately wiped from my face when I saw who was standing in my office. I thought that this was someone I would never have to see again. I couldn't fathom how on Earth he had found me again.

"Mike, what are you doing here?" I asked him, my voice shaking with fear.

"Bella, Bella, Bella," he said, shutting the door and clicking it locked, "Did you think I wouldn't find you? Did you think that you could hide from me?" He was stalking towards me with an angry look in his eyes. I slowly back up until I was up against the window. He was standing right in front of me now.

"How did you find me Mike," I asked him. I had to keep him talking until someone could figure out what was going on. I needed him to keep talking.

"It was really too easy Bella. I mean, for God's sake, you didn't even bother changing your name. I have been working under your nose the entire time. I am a construction worker on the shelter site next door. I have seen you every day for the past few months and you didn't even know it." He began to laugh as he thought about his situation.

I discreetly picked up a vase that was sitting on the window pane and prepared myself to hit Mike over the head with it. I raised it up and prepared to swing with all my might when I was suddenly hit across the face with brute force. I stumbled and fell to the floor.

"I don't think so Bitch!" Mike yelled at me," we are going to finish what you denied me back in Forks. You will not get out of it this time." He got down and straddled me on the floor and ripped my blouse open. He held my arms above my head as I screamed and thrashed about on the floor. I couldn't stop this. I am too weak. I let myself go into the dark corner of my mind to protect my sanity. I closed my eyes and listened what sounded like the beating of drums in the distance.

EPOV

I took off towards the office building next door with Emmett screaming behind me wondering what was going on. I didn't have time to explain it to him now but knew I would need to later. I slammed through the buildings front door and ran past Angela. She yelled to me that Bella was in a meeting with someone in her office and I stopped. I ran over to Angela's desk and immediately asked her "Who is she meeting with."

"It is someone Emmett sent over with some plans for the shelter," she said. I threw out a string of profanities again and took off up the steps heading toward Bella's office. I didn't have time to wait for the elevators.

When I walked onto her floor I was immediately hit with a sound that nearly broke my heart into a million pieces. It was Bella screaming and crying for someone to help. I ran down the hall to her office prepared to rip open the door, but the son-of-a-bitch had locked it. I rammed the door over and over with my shoulder but it failed to open. I screamed at the bastard through the door telling him everything I would do to him when I finally got inside that room. I continued to ram the door over and over but failing miserably to budge it. I have never in my life regretted spending my days practicing piano rather than spending time with Emmett working out than I do right now.

"Move aside Edward," someone told me while placing their hand on my shoulder. I looked up and could have cried at the site I saw. It was Emmett. I could have hugged my big brother right then but knew we didn't have time.

"Emmett we have got to get in there. He's got her trapped. She was screaming earlier but now she is quiet. I don't know what he has done to her," I practically screamed at him. He pushed me aside and prepared himself to ram against the door as I had done earlier. I silently prayed that the days of working out had been successful. He rammed it once and then twice and the door didn't budge. He stepped back and prepared to ram it again. Emmett let out what could only be described as a growled and rammed the door again with all his might. The door swung open with the force my brother had put into it and we both ran in. We spotted them immediately and stepped towards them. I was prepared to handle Mike but Emmett beat me to him. He drug him off Bella and threw him to the ground. I turned toward them and pushed my sleeves up prepared to do all the things I had told him I would do when I got inside this room. But I was stopped.

"Edward, I have got this mother fucker. You just help Bella. Look at her Edward. Look at her. She needs your help," Emmett said while holding Mike down on the floor. I looked over at my Angel and saw just how much she needed me. She was sitting up now, against the wall with her blouse wide open where Mike had obviously ripped it open. She was holding her knees to her chest and rocking back and forth. I knelt down in front of her and she looked at me. But she wasn't really looking at me. It looked as if she were looking through me.

"Oh Baby. I am so sorry I didn't get here sooner. I am so sorry he got to you first," I told her while pulling her into my arms. I help my beautiful Bella and prayed that she would get through this. That we would get through this.


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer. **

EPOV

I was rattled awake to a pitch black room by a frightening yet familiar sound. Bella was thrashing about on the bed and screaming at the top of her lungs. This had happened almost nightly since the attack. For the first two weeks it did happen nightly and numerous times a night as well. I had begun to get used to this. It has been two months since Bella was attacked by that asshole. Although the attacks don't happen as often now, I still remember that first one all too well.

_We had just gotten back to Bella's apartment after she had been checked out at the local ER. They said she was fine physically but I could tell that mentally, she was very distraught. _

_She was in the shower now and I was sitting on the edge of her bed waiting for her to come out. When she did, I looked at her face and could tell that she had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were tinged pink as well. _

_I pulled her into a hug and she broke down again. I pulled her to the bed and sat her down beside me, never letting go of her. _

_Once her tears had subsided, I placed her head on her pillow and pulled the covers up over her. I gently placed a kiss on her forehead saying "I will see you tomorrow Bella. I will be here first thing in the morning." _

_She looked up at me and panicked. "No Edward, please. Don't leave me. I don't want to be alone. I can't be alone. Please don't make me be alone." I sat her up hugging her again and told her "Ok, Ok, don't cry baby. I will stay as long as you need and want me to. I will be just outside on your couch if you need me. You just all out for me if you need anything at all." _

_She looked at me shyly and said "Edward, do you think that you could stay….in here…..with me? Please?" I smiled and said to her "If that is what you need baby, of course I will."_

_She nodded her head and scooted over to make room for me on the bed. I laid down beside her and pulled her to me. Within a few minutes she was asleep and I followed soon behind her. _

_I woke up to a blood-curdling scream. I rubbed my eyes sleepily, and looked over to Bella. She was thrashing about on the bed and screaming to the top of her lungs. _

_I gently shook her saying "Bella, Bella, Baby please wake up. It's only a dream. Please baby. You have to wake up." When this didn't work I began to nudge her a little harder, practically screaming her name. The last thing I remember was being knocked to the floor and blacking out, succumbing to the pain._

Yep, that's right. Bella knocked my ass to the floor again that night. When I finally came to Bella was sobbing and begging me not to leave her. Since that night, I have spent every night at Bella's. Although, I have learned not to grab her while she is deep in sleep. Two bloody noses at the hand of Bella Swan is quite enough for me.

After that night, Bella decided to go to therapy. She had refused to talk to me, the girls or even Jasper about the attack, so he recommended someone for her to go to. She had been seeing this doctor for the past few weeks now and I could tell it was helping. The attacks only happened about once a week now, where as before that they happened nightly.

She had finally began to talk to me about it. I learned that I had gotten there in time. He hadn't raped her, which I thank God for every day. I had continuously blamed myself for not getting there in time and she helped me deal with that guilt.

I just hope that seeing this doctor can stop the nightmares completely. I can tell that they are taking a toll on her. She acts happy and carefree, but to those of us that know her well, can tell a difference in her. There is still that light in her eyes, but I can tell that it is not as bright as it was when I met her. She has what looks to be permanent purple marks under her eyes from her lack of a good nights sleep.

She may not have the violent nightmares every night, but I know she has some sort of dreams nightly, because she wakes me up whimpering and moaning. These are the times that I pull her to me and hold her tightly telling her that everything will be ok. Because that is what I truly believe, as long as we are together, it will all be ok.


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer**

BPOV

**6 months later**

"To Bella!" everyone said raising their glasses in unison. We were out tonight celebrating today's opening of the shelter. After my attack, we pushed back the construction, but it was finally completed earlier this month. I look at my friends around me and can't help but smile. Everyone was here and we had all come so far.

Alice and Jasper are still together and going strong. As a matter of fact, they are planning a wedding for next spring. Or should I say Alice is. She is going crazy with cloth swatches and invitation samples but she is so happy and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Rose and Emmett actually surprised us all. They were supposed to be going to a weekend trip to the beach but came back married. They said they just decided on a whim and went with it. They couldn't be happier.

I am brought out of my thoughts my a sweet voice in my ear, "You ok?" He asks me. I turn my head to look at him and smile. Edward and I are doing perfectly. Yes we have our normal fights like any couple would but we get through them. I have learned a lot of things from going to therapy. My nightmares are now completely gone. I haven't had one in 3 months. Edward and I are living together now and have pretty much been doing so since my attack. Only now, he has actually moved all his things into my apartment.

"Yes, Baby. I am fine." I say, and lean in to give him a kiss on the cheek. He smiles that brilliant smile at me and I stand up, ready to make my speech that was insisted upon by everyone.

"I am so happy to have each and every one of you here with me tonight. You have all done so much individually to help me get to this place in my life. You have been my strength, my rocks, and my inspiration," I say, tears flowing freely down my face. "My sister would have been so lucky to have had a place like this but now, hopefully I can provide that for someone else's sister. I can help her memory live on through the work that we will all do, together." I raise my glass and everyone else follows "To Tanya."

I take my seat back down beside Edward and he gives me a chaste kiss on the lips before standing up himself. "I have something I would like to say."

EPOV

I am so nervous that I can barely even speak but the words make their way from my mouth somehow "I have something I would like to say."

I grab Bella's hand and turn to her saying, "Bella since you have come into my life, I feel so alive. Before you, I was just existing. I can say now that I am truly living. You are wrong. You have been our strength and our inspiration." I look around at our friends and they are nodding their heads and there is not one dry eye in the house.

"I am so in love with you and I can't imagine my life without you in it." I reach my hand in my pocket and pull out the small black velvet box and get down on bended knee. "Isabella Marie Swan, would you do me the greatest pleasure and be my wife? Would you marry me Baby?" I place the ring on her finger and look up into her tear filled eyes.

"Yes! Baby, Yes!" She says and wraps her arms around me tightly. I hold her just as tightly to me and think about all we have been through . We have had our troubles, but together, we made it. And now together, we would Build a Destiny.

**THE END**

**A/N: So there you have it, my first completed story. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. Make sure you have me on author alert because I have another one planned really soon.**

**And, I am in a collaborative effort with 10 other friends of mine in a storyline. It will be posting soon under the pen name of We Hold Spunk Ransom. So, be on the lookout for it soon.**


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